In the Netherlands, Jacob van den Borne is one of a kind when it comes to Precision Agriculture (PA). He uses several sensors, drones, satellite data and other data sources. He is unique in the sense that he overlooks the entire management cycle: from preparing the land, managing the crops and measuring the yields. By combining this information, he knows the effects of his decisions.

He became interested in PA during his studies. With PA, innovation is an ongoing process. Jacob started several years ago and has been collecting data for over 7 years.

Driving Force

Jacob himself is the main driving force at the farm which he runs together with his brother Jan. For Jacob, being a farmer is a professionalized hobby. The critical attitude of Jacob’s wife, his father and his brother Jan urges him to prove all the choices he makes. His family challenges him in a good way.

Jacob is also supported by ZLTO (farmers’ association in the Netherlands), Boerenbond (farmers’ association in Belgium) and research organizations like Wageningen UR (NL) and ILVO (BE). Furthermore, Jacob organises support from the best technicians in the machine industry as well as ICT, which is a leading industrial technology solutions and service provider in the Netherlands.

Bringing People Together

Jacob is good at bringing people together and helping them to help themselves with the things they need. Researchers may use his data, sensors and parcels to conduct their research. Policy makers come by to see what he is doing and he tells them what he needs. ZLTO gives him advise and also assists him in developing projects and bringing all the different players together. Other farmers are also allowed to use his data and the results from his testing fields. He constantly works with students and everyone that has worked with him, immediately gets convinced of the advantages of PA.

Challenges with PA

PA is not a straightforward process that reveals what potential has to be realized first and what next. Several innovations have to be “managed” at the same time.

This is a challenge in the sense that if one of the innovations fails, it is hard to make the others succeed.

Jacob Is a First Mover

Jacob and Jan manage 450 acres of potatoes. Although the scale of their business may seem small at a European level, the impact of what Jacob does is definitely of European scale. He is, indeed, is a first mover when it comes to PA because of his uniqueness in connecting data and techniques.