This is the final post in our three-part series based on a paper co-authored by myself and Shannon Ferrell of Oklahoma State University. As you can tell from our last blog post in this series, there is not a legal framework specifically suited for the protection of agricultural data.  Trade secret comes closest, and if indeed a farmer can prove their data is protectable information (with the burden of such proof resting on the farmer), no written agreement between parties is needed for trade secret law to apply.  However,… Read More →

Today we continue in our Big Data on the Farm Series by looking at what laws may apply to protect farmers’ data.  As I mentioned in Part I, this three-part blog series comes from a paper co-authored by myself and Shannon Ferrell at Oklahoma State University. When the topic of big data is brought up, many farmers’ first reaction is to ask how they can protect their information from others?  An adequate legal analysis of this question must necessarily start with determining who actually owns the data in… Read More →

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 →