Big Data and AI in Agriculture

Farming is said to be undergoing a digital “revolution.” For example, new tractors embed hundreds of sensors which passively collect data on the farm, the equipment and even farmworkers. This data is aggregated with those from other farms and remote sensing into “big data” which are used in machine learning that generates “data-driven” advice on when to spray, seed and harvest.

I study the social and environmental justice impacts of digitization in agriculture. My work focuses on the potential misuses of data and algorithms and the ways they reproduce power among the already powerful. I have several projects in this area ranging from community-grounded work with farmers to work on policy-development of ethical data governance in the agri-food sector. I ask questions like: What types of big data are currently in use by farmers, governments and corporations in the agri-food system? What kinds of knowledge about food, farming and farmers are big data helping to shape? What power relationships are generated, reinforced or disrupted by the use of big data and AI in the agri-food sector?