Agriculture Performance

Is it working? The problems, opportunities, and metrics that matter.

Primary Problems

What are the primary problems to be solved?

Financial and Economic

1. Declining net farm income — Expected to decrease by 8% in 2024 compared to 2023 levels.
2. High input costs — While increasing at a slower rate, costs for fuel, fertilizers, seeds, etc. remain elevated.
3. Rising interest rates — Making it more difficult and expensive for farmers to access credit and loans.
4. Market volatility — Unpredictable commodity prices and trade disruptions.
5. Limited access to capital — Especially for small farms and young farmers. There's an estimated $62 billion financing gap for farmers.

Business Model

1. Technological adoption — Need to invest in new technologies while managing costs, especially challenging for smallholder farmers.
2. Labour shortages — Difficulty finding skilled farm workers, especially during peak seasons.
3. Sustainability pressures — Transitioning to more environmentally friendly practices while maintaining profitability.
4. Supply chain disruptions — Affecting both input procurement and product distribution.
5. Changing consumer preferences — Shifting demand for certain products (e.g. alternative proteins, organic produce).

Personal and Operational

1. Succession planning — Many farms lack clear plans for transitioning to the next generation.
2. Mental health and stress — High stress levels due to financial pressures and unpredictable factors.
3. Work-life balance — Long hours and difficulty taking time off, especially for smaller operations.
4. Regulatory compliance — Keeping up with changing regulations and paperwork requirements.
5. Climate change adaptation — Dealing with more frequent extreme weather events and changing growing conditions.

Environmental and Resource

1. Water scarcity — Depleting groundwater levels and increased competition for water resources.
2. Soil health degradation — Loss of soil fertility due to intensive farming practices.
3. Pest and disease resistance — Increasing resistance to pesticides and herbicides.
4. Biodiversity loss — Pressure to maintain biodiversity while increasing production.

Policy and Market

1. Farm bill uncertainty — Delays in passing a new farm bill, creating policy uncertainty.
2. International trade tensions — Affecting export markets and prices.
3. Consolidation in the industry — Increasing market power of large agribusinesses and retailers.
4. Public perception — Managing public image and addressing concerns about farming practices.

KPI Transformation

How DePIN changes what we measure:

Traditional Metric	Protocol Metric	Why It Matters
Annual soil tests	Continuous soil monitoring	Real-time decisions vs annual guesses
Regional weather forecasts	Hyper-local sensor data	Paddock-level precision
Manual yield estimates	Sensor-verified harvests	Provenance for premium markets
Periodic equipment checks	Real-time fleet telemetry	Predictive maintenance
Annual audits	Continuous verification	Lower compliance costs, higher trust
Corporate-owned data	Farmer-owned, network-shared	Data sovereignty + token earnings

Opportunity Scoring

Opportunity	Market Size	NZ Fit	Tech Readiness	Regulatory	Score
WeatherXM deployment	Medium	High	High	Low	8/10
GEODNET base stations	Medium	High	High	Low	8/10
Parametric insurance	High	High	Medium	Medium	7/10
Supply chain provenance	High	High	Medium	Medium	7/10
Fractional farmland ownership	High	Medium	Medium	High	6/10

Trends

Who is buying land and why?

• Bill Gates | Land Ownership
• Bill Gates | AgTech

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Context

• Agriculture Principles — The immutable truths
• Agriculture Protocols — How to implement solutions
• Performance Framework — General performance principles