Monthly Archives: September 2015

The Clean Water Act and Agriculture: The Basics

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The “waters of the United States” controversy has been a hot button issue in the agriculture industry for over a year now.  It’s showing no signs of slowing down.  But many people fail to understand that there is more to this issue than the definition of “waters of the United States.”  For example, even if a stream running across one’s property is deemed a “water of the United States” under the EPA’s new rule, that does not mean the landowner must obtain a permit in order to conduct… Read More →

Big Data on the Farm (Part I): What Is It?

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Big data.  These words have been swirling around coffee shops, field days, and agricultural press over the last couple of years.  Recently, Shannon Ferrell and I wrote a paper discussing big data and drone use in agriculture.  Because this is such an important topic, I thought I would do a three-part series on this issue in the coming weeks.  Today, we will kick things off with the introductory question:  What is big data? Definition One recent Forbes article addressed this issue and explained the confusion surrounding the term.  The… Read More →