The Impact of Technology in the Food Industry

Did you know people are listening to chickens and shrimp? It’s happening via the latest technology in the food industry, leading to great improvements in the supply chain of food around the globe.

Cargill’s purpose is to nourish the world in a safe, sustainable and responsible way. As Justin Kershaw, the CIO of Cargill, explained innovation and technology in the food industry are making that happen:

“We’ve never been able to decipher the clucks of a chicken until now. As humans we all sound different just before the onset of a cold, the same is true with chickens. Thanks to AI we can now listen to the difference in the clucks of a chicken and predict the exact chick that is sick before they infect other chickens around them.”

About 50 percent of the shrimp in the world are produced on farms. Shrimp farmers are now using a Cargill cloud-based solution called IQ-Shrimp. The predictive software uses machine learning and sensors to give them real time visibility into their operations. Shrimp also make sounds before they eat. Being able to predict when they need to eat means no waste and healthier shrimp.

Robots are herding cattle. Farmers, who used to put their lives on the line in order to herd the large mammals are now able to stay safe, operating a robot herder from a distance and guiding the cattle to food sources.

Technology in the food industry: Predicting crop outcome and supply

Cargill is also capturing terrabytes of data about the earth through satellite visualization. It’s helping them predict crop outcome and crop supply so they can match supply to demand. They’re also always monitoring severe weather. One storm can change the prediction of crops in a matter of hours.

The investment Cargill is making to integrate the latest technology in the food industry now is certainly disrupting the food market anticipating the major changes that will need to happen now to feed the world for decades to come. As Kershaw said:

“today we know there is enough food to feed everyone on the planet, yet we still struggle with starvation. By the year 2050 there will be 10 billion of us on the planet so it’s only going to get harder to feed everyone. We have to find a way to feed future generations without harming the planet. That’s why we believe it’s so important to invest and integrate technology in the food industry now more than ever. Our future depends on it.”

Relevant article: Machine Learning vs Artificial Intelligence

Kershaw then encouraged the audience not to be afraid of being disruptors themselves, to chase technology with a purpose, not just chase the latest tech for tech’s sake.

“Once you have purpose it all falls into place, become the change within your organization.”

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