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Following are case studies of state-of-the-art advanced computational platforms – specifically computer graphics, multi-player networking, and high-resolution, satellite-based earth imaging – currently deployed to impact the future of agriculture and food security.
Farming Simulator is, well, exactly what the title implies: A farming simulation, created and marketed by Switzerland-based Giants Software. If you were to play the game (on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One) you would, according to the product website, “enjoy a huge variety of farming operations focusing on agriculture, animal husbandry, and forestry. Operate real machines from John Deere, CLAAS, Case IH, DEUTZ-FAHR, New Holland, Fendt, Massey Ferguson, Valtra, and many others in three diverse American and European environments. Now with the exciting addition of seasonal cycles and production chains!”
Gamedaily.biz, NME.com and Gameinformer.com all report that Farming Simulator 22 is as popular, if not more popular, than most multiplayer shooter games in Europe.
Or, as PC Gamer reported in November 2021 at the time of the release of Farming Simulator 22:
With Farming Simulator 22 out of the gates this past week, now’s as good a time as ever to remind you that it’s a wildly popular game series with a huge player count. Its average players have grown steadily since launch, and peak concurrent player counts have averaged over 90,000 people. It’s the kind of good stats tracking we at PC Gamer thank SteamDB daily for.
Farming Simulator had a higher peak concurrent player count than Battlefield 2042 on Steam, and while Battlefield’s average player count has declined steadily, Farming Simulator’s has grown. That’s definitely two very different player bases, but it’s worth pointing out as a comparison of popularity. Today, November 28th, FS22 has broken an average player count of 60,000 on Steam, comparable to games like Grand Theft Auto V and Football Manager 2022.
The Farming Simulator series…is now on its eighth main-series game with FS22. Farming Simulator 19, the last entry, has sold well over two million copies.”
In 2020, The Precision Farming Project made available free downloadable content (DLC) for Farming Simulator 19 – introducing a partnership between the European Union, John Deere, and the EIT (European Institute of Innovation and Technology) – “an independent body created by the European Union to empower research and innovation. The EIT was established in 2008 with headquarters in Budapest and spread all over Europe. There are various subdivisions called “EIT KICs (Knowledge and Innovation Communities)”, like EIT Climate, EIT Digital, EIT Health, and EIT Food – which is responsible for this project.
EIT Food is determined to “future-proof food”, as described on the official website. That entails a variety of objectives to address:
To achieve all this, EIT Food takes different approaches like creating “agrifood startups”, developing talents and leaders with appropriate skills, or even launching innovative products and engaging the public. And this is basically, what the Precision Farming Project for Farming Simulator is about: Launching a product (the game module) and releasing it to the public to educate and spread awareness about advanced farming technology designed to meet the goals of the institution.” (1)
“The goal of the Precision Farming Project is simple and is rooted in the fact that public knowledge about farming is in decline. The link between society living in big metropolitan areas and modern agricultural technology is almost severed. EIT Food, together with John Deere and other partners, is set to change this public image about modern and sustainable agriculture by increasing transparency and trust in modern agriculture.
Against the widely spread assumption that it’s only possible for small family-owned farms to produce high-quality and organic crops, the project is meant to highlight modern technology known as Precision Farming or Precision Agriculture. This technology allows big farms to produce high-quality goods while being environment-friendly, too. Modern precision farming technologies will be introduced in Farming Simulator as one of multiple efforts to change this false perception and raise awareness for sustainable farming in the general public.” (2)
Phase I of the Precision Farming DLC had gameplay features such as:
The project started in cooperation with the University of Hohenheim (Germany), the University of Reading (Great Britain), and Grupo AN, the largest cereal cooperative in Spain. in 2021, the Institute of Animal Reproduction and Food Research from the Polish Academy of Sciences joined the project to promote the technology among young farmers in Eastern Europe.
Also in 2021, Phase II of the Precision Farming DLC introduced features such as:
Fresh analysis of Planet data from @NASAHarvest reports a higher amount of cropland has been harvested and planted along both the Russian-occupied and Ukrainian-held territories than other publicly-sourced estimates. Read on for their findings: https://t.co/wMlSmwiYNJ pic.twitter.com/mkyOUooP1C
— Planet (@planet) September 7, 2022
NASA Harvest’s mission is “to enable and advance the adoption of satellite Earth observations by public and private organizations to benefit food security, agriculture, and human and environmental resiliency in the US and worldwide.” (5)
In partnership with the satellite earth imaging company Planet, NASA Harvest recently released a report on frontline agriculture patterns using Planet’s Satellite Data:
“In the midst of the Russo-Ukrainian war, more cropland than was initially expected has been both harvested and planted along both the Russian-occupied and Ukrainian-held territories, according to NASA Harvest research.
Leveraging Planet’s satellite image datasets, NASA Harvest has been monitoring potential threats to global food security caused by the Russo-Ukrainian War. After releasing their first in-depth report, the group of Harvest researchers continued analysis of the current state of agriculture in the world’s breadbasket.
Harvest’s Rapid Assessment Team based at the University of Maryland and the University of Strasburg have delineated and mapped all agriculture fields across the country’s 25 oblasts. Their latest findings from August 2022 show that 29% of winter cereals, 21% of summer/spring crops, and 13% of rapeseed are now under Russian occupation. However, across both sides (including the temporarily Russian-occupied territories), most of the winter crops like wheat and rapeseed, which would have been planted in the fall of 2021, have still been harvested.
As for the spring planting, which includes commodity crops like corn and sunflower, NASA Harvest’s results also found that while there is a higher proportion of unplanted areas in the Russian-occupied regions, planting and harvesting is still occurring on both geographical sides of the conflict. In fact, NASA Harvest is currently estimating a higher production out of the region than other publicly-sourced estimates.
2022 crop map at 3 meter resolution showing planting progress across Ukraine. (Data provided by: Planet Labs PBC, Institute for the Study of War, NASA)
‘These results suggest that while agricultural activity has continued across the war-torn region, the greatest impacts on crop production are demonstrably seen across the frontlines of the warzone and within the temporarily-occupied areas,’ said Dr. Inbal Becker-Reshef, Program Director for NASA Harvest.
Their analysis also shows a stark contrast along the frontlines of the war where soil lays bare, high concentrations of crops go unharvested, and fires scorch the land. Satellite imagery and graphical mapping depict a strong correlation between the distance between unplanted fields and the reported military borders, allowing one to almost draw a line through these regions — halted in time — to denote the frontline of the conflict.
While agricultural burning has been historically observed in Ukraine, satellite imagery is showing a clear pattern in 2022 that closely follows the frontline of the conflict. In previous years, fires have been distributed across agricultural growing regions, but this year fires are heavily concentrated along the current warzone boundaries.
Satellite imagery shows a notable deviation of past burning patterns. In 2022, fires are clearly concentrated along the frontlines of the conflict. (Occupation data provided by the Institute for the Study of War)
‘Planet’s high cadence PlanetScope data, paired with other public datasets, has allowed our team to collect these insights despite frequent cloud cover over Ukraine. It’s made a massive difference in our work. By having satellite data of each location every single day, we are able to conduct agricultural analyses across all fields in Ukraine despite challenging weather patterns,’ said Dr. Becker-Reshef.
For NASA Harvest, Planet’s daily satellite imagery coupled with NASA’s biweekly base maps, provides vital information on food security impacts in regions experiencing war.
‘When researchers can’t be on the ground to see how many fields have been abandoned or where crops are caught in fire – especially in the case of Russian-occupied territories, satellite data helps complete the picture, and reveals how conflict impacts food production not just for the region, but for the world,’ said Andrew Zolli, Planet’s Chief Impact Officer.
Over the course of the conflict, Planet has worked with and supplied data to nearly 30 NGOs and intergovernmental bodies like NASA Harvest who are supporting a number of humanitarian operations in Ukraine, such as civilian evacuation; planned de-mining operations; conducting building damage assessments; tracking alleged human rights abuses; and trying to mitigate and measure impacts to food supplies.” (6)
Food security, the future of agriculture, and the future role of private sector earth satellite imaging technology are all a part of the bigger strategic picture which will be discussed at OODAcon 2022 – The Future of Exponential Innovation & Disruption, with panels such as:
John Robb, Global Guerrillas Report and Author of Brave New War
J.D. Work, Cyber threat expert and professor at Columbia, NDU, and MCU.
Yegor Dubynsky (invited), Ukraine Office of Digital Transformation
Twenty years ago, cybersecurity experts warned of attacks against power grids and planes falling from the sky. They predicted a future that has not manifested itself yet. Will it? Or will the future of war be a conflict waged for the hearts and minds of social media users? What about the future of conflict in the contested domain of space – not only regarding assets in orbit but space exploration and resource exploitation? What lessons will Russia use from its extensive use of cyber tools against Ukraine? What lessons should defenders learn?
Bob Gourley, CTO of OODA LLC | Former CTO at Defense Intelligence Agency
Johnny Sawyer, Founder of the Sawyer Group | Former Chief of Staff at Defense Intelligence Agency
The Pandemic, Russian invasion of Ukraine, demographic inversions, and technological labor force disruption have combined to forever shift the global geo-strategic environment. This session will examine the new world economy, seeking actionable insights for practitioners who need a deeper understanding of new realities. Impacts on individuals, investors, business, military, and governments will be examined.
To register for OODAcon, go to: OODAcon 2022 – The Future of Exponential Innovation & Disruption
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About the Author
Daniel Pereira is research director at OODA. He is a foresight strategist, creative technologist, and an information communication technology (ICT) and digital media researcher with 20+ years of experience directing public/private partnerships and strategic innovation initiatives.
Informing your decisions with actionable intelligence
Informing your decisions with actionable intelligence
