<p>Ag tech startup FarmLogs is announcing that it has raised $4 million in its first round of funding, according to Forbes. The company's management software is part of a larger trend of data platforms currently being developed by ag tech companies.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Currently, the software allows farmers to manage risk while tracking the progress of their crops. It is also a useful tool for managing expenses, profits, weather, and prices.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">Co-founder and CEO Jesse Vollmar tells AndNowUKnow that his company has an exciting road map for future developments.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><b>Intelligent crop predictions:</b> There are numerous data sets available which show what's growing on fields in the United States. FarmLogs intends to be capable of modeling which crops would be appropriate to grow in a given area. Farmers might be given realistic expectations about crop yields.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><b>Automated activity logging:</b> In the future, FarmLogs will eliminate most of the data entry by automating their system. Using proprietary geo-sensing tech that integrates with a mobile app, farmers will not need to manually enter data.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><b>Connecting tractors to the internet:</b> Agricultural machinery actually could be collecting a lot of useful data for farmers. The FarmLogs system currently under development will allow data to flow from the machine to the cloud, where it can be analyzed and used by the farmer to make decisions within the system. A low-cost hardware device which plugs into a combine or tractor would connect directly to the mobile app.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">I asked Jesse if using big data in agriculture was all about maximizing efficiency for farmers, and he indicated that this was only the beginning.<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">"We've already increased efficiency for our users. In the future, we'll save them countless hours by telling them which fields they need to work," Vollmar explains. "We'll also be able to build recommendations for farmers that will increase yield and decrease risk."<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">It appears that using big data to make agronomic decisions will be a key aspect of farming in the future. How can technologies such as this one revolutionize your production management?<hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://farmlogs.com/" target="_new"> FarmLogs </a><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding"><a class="btn btn-sm btn-primary col-lg-12" style="white-space: normal;" href="http://www.forbes.com/fdc/welcome_mjx.shtml" target="_new"> Forbes </a></p><hr class="legacyRuler"><hr class="invisible minimal-padding">
