WASHINGTON, D.C., — A dozen leading U.S. grower organizations are hailing the collaborative efforts that led to the new AgGateway ADAPT framework for interoperability in precision ag systems,  citing the many benefits to farmers, and are calling on Farm Management Information System (FMIS) companies to formally commit to integrating the ADAPT framework into their systems in the near future. 

The support was expressed in a letter this month to AgGateway Chairman David Black from the American Farm Bureau Federation, American Soybean Association, National Association of Wheat Growers, National Barley Growers Association, National Corn Growers Association, 
National Cotton Council, National Farmers Union, National Sorghum Producers, National Sunflower Association, U.S. Canola Association, U.S. Dry Bean Council and USA Rice. 

“Over the last decade, the most consistent concern raised by farmers using precision ag is that ‘different systems won’t work together,’" the letter states. “The farm and commodity groups are pleased that AgGateway member companies worked collectively to solve this problem by creating ADAPT…. As organizations representing producers of all commodities and in all 50 states, we offer our support to encourage FMIS companies to formally commit to integrating the ADAPT framework in the near future.” The full text of the letter can be found here.

“We are grateful for this truly impressive show of support from grower organizations, and are ready to assist companies — and get their feedback to continually improve ADAPT — as they incorporate this technology into their proprietary systems,” said Mark Stelford, Chairman of AgGateway’s ADAPT Oversight Committee and General Manager of Premier Crop Systems.

As AgGateway’s ADAPT is integrated into products, the grower will be much better equipped to manage data across different precision agriculture systems — regardless of the system manufacturer. ADAPT is an open source project, allowing precision ag software providers globally to use the software and to contribute to its continued development. The ADAPT framework is comprised of an Agricultural Application Data Model, a common API (Application Programming Interface), and a combination of open source and proprietary data conversion plug-ins. Developers can access additional information about the ADAPT SDK, as well as access the model, by going to www.ADAPTframework.org.

“ADAPT and the accompanying data format enables the interoperability between software systems, service providers and advisors that farmers need to perform their routine operations more efficiently and seamlessly,” said Tarak Reddy, Chair of AgGateway’s ADAPT Technical Committee and Delivery Architect of John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group. 

Companies that have committed to using ADAPT and releasing plug-ins for many of their proprietary data formats currently include AGCO Corporation, Ag Leader Technology, CLAAS, CNH Industrial, Deere & Company, Praxidyn, Raven Industries, Topcon Precision Agriculture and Trimble Navigation. The “plug-in” technology allows the ADAPT platform to work with individual, proprietary products. 

The AgGateway team publicly released the open-source ADAPT — which stands for Agricultural Data Application Programming Toolkit — in February. The timeline for plug-in development will vary by manufacturer this fall and into 2017; some plug-ins are immediately available to FMIS companies, who can check with the manufacturer for availability and licensing details. At the same time, AgGateway members have developed an ISO plug-in to support a broad range of ISO-compatible systems under an open source license. 

Companies currently participating in AgGateway’s ADAPT Oversight Committee include Ag Connections, Ag Leader, AGCO, Agrian, CNH Industrial, Central Valley Ag Coop, CLAAS, Conservis, Independent Data Management, John Deere, Land O’ Lakes, Monsanto, Premier Crop Systems, ProAg, Raven Industries, Software Solutions Integrated, SST Software, Syngenta, Topcon Precision Agriculture, Trimble, Uptake and ZedX. In addition, the ADAPT Oversight Committee will be meeting at the AgGateway Annual Conference November 7-10 in Orlando. More details can be found at www.AgGateway.org.