IoT in Agriculture

Agricultural IoT deployments typically include four layers. (1) Edge sensors measure physical parameters — soil moisture probes at 20/40/60 cm depths, weather stations recording temperature/humidity/rainfall/wind, leaf-wetness sensors for disease forecasting, canopy-temperature sensors for water stress, tank-level sensors for irrigation systems. (2) Connectivity layer moves data from field to cloud via LoRaWAN (10-km range, 10-year battery), NB-IoT (cellular-based, broader coverage), or traditional WiFi/cellular for higher-bandwidth devices. (3) Cloud platform aggregates and analyzes data, typically running time-series databases, rule engines, and ML models. (4) Actuation layer closes the loop — automated valve controllers, variable-rate sprayer controllers, autonomous equipment that responds to sensor triggers.

Hardware economics changed the market. A soil moisture probe that cost €2,000 in 2010 now costs €150–400. A full-featured weather station dropped from €10,000 to €500–2,000. LoRaWAN network coverage is effectively free on many farms via privately deployed gateways (€200–500 each). This cost collapse means a complete IoT system for a 100-hectare farm (10 moisture probes, 2 weather stations, 5 valve controllers, 1 gateway) now runs €5,000–15,000 versus €50,000+ a decade ago.

Most common use cases: irrigation automation (moisture-triggered valves reduce water use 15–30%), weather-based spraying decisions (disease-forecast models fed by hyperlocal weather), frost monitoring (automated wind-machine activation), greenhouse environmental control, and livestock health monitoring (ear-tag activity sensors). WiseYield integrates with common IoT platforms through API webhooks, letting growers surface real-time sensor data alongside satellite imagery, weather forecasts, and AI recommendations in a single farm dashboard.