As Agribusinesses Seek Farmers’ Data, Farm Trade Groups Express Privacy Concerns

Big agriculture companies are offering data that can help farmers boost crop yields and reduce greenhouse gas emissions linked to climate change, but some groups have privacy concerns.

Monsanto and other firms now offer high-tech information that can help growers decide the best time to plant seeds or apply fertilizer. A side benefit can be making choices that reduce the amount of greenhouse gases released from the farmland.

But some farmers said that they worry about having to give the big companies too much information. Robert Parkhurst, of Environmental Defense Fund, said farm trade groups can help set privacy standards or government could step in.

“At some level, the marketplace will help solve it,” said Parkhurst. “We’re trying to help broker that dialogue in a way we can demonstrate the environmental benefit with the use of data.”

A recent U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study found that one greenhouse gas — nitrous oxide — in the U.S. mainly comes from agricultural soils.