Using 5G to Transform Farming and Improve Food Resiliency

Farming, it is the most important job on our planet, and it is an industry with massive potential for generating and using raw data. Yet few industries have been as limited by data connectivity. With 5G, that is changing. All around the world farmers are embracing wireless technology, finding better ways to feed and sustain the planet.

We are working to help fuel this innovation, and today we announced a collaboration between Snohomish County, the 5G Open Innovation Lab and our partners to create a state-of-the-art agriculture technology field lab at two farms in rural Washington. It is called the Food Resiliency Project and it is funded by the CARES Act with the goal to bring together farmers, distributors and technology companies to transform  the agriculture industry and improve food resiliency.

T-Mobile 5G, a Platform for Agriculture Innovation

With T-Mobile 5G, we will bring meaningful change to the agriculture industry. The Un-carrier is already America’s 5G leader with the fastest and largest nationwide 5G network. We are building a network to serve all Americans, including rural farmers, giving them the tools they need to transform their businesses. For farmers, that means producing more food using fewer resources. Less water, less fertilizer, less pesticide. That matters for the environment, and it matters because agriculture is a capital intensive, low-margin industry.

Agriculture is also a high-risk industry exposed to the whims of mother nature. But sensors combined with artificial intelligence can create predictive models that dramatically reduce risk and increase efficiency for farms of all sizes. Systems that monitor crops and soil conditions provide farmers with real-time data to quickly adjust their operations, better deploy resources and even run farming tasks remotely.

Modern farms are highly connected farms, and it is vital that small farms not get left behind. With our Extended Range 5G network covering more than 280 million people across nearly 1.6 million squares miles, and our Ultra Capacity 5G network slated to cover 200 million people by year end, we are rolling out a 5G network that supports all use cases for 5G. Not just use cases in airports, stadiums and big cities, but use cases that drive powerful transformation across America. We call it 5G for All, because it is built to reach everyone, including those living in rural America driving the industries such as farming that are so vital to our country.

I am proud that T-Mobile is building a real and meaningful 5G network that spans coast-to-coast, lifts up communities and changes our world for the better. As we look at use cases for 5G, agriculture has to be one of the most compelling. We can’t wait to see the 5G innovation that occurs as we work with the developers and entrepreneurs building the next big thing in agritech.