Dairy Farmers of America Invest in New Technology, Help to Grow Kansas City Tech Sector

The Dairy Farmers of America have recently announced that it will invest in two new forms of technology to advance farmers’ capabilities across the country: blockchain technology and artificial intelligence. While the blockchain technology will be used to increase transparency in the food supply chain, artificial intelligence will be used to more closely monitor the health of their herd and improve milk quality.

“This is a potentially game-changing technology for our farmers and the industry as it allows dairy farmers to know the health of each cow and quality of milk in real time,” David Darr, president of farm services at DFA said about the artificial intelligence in a release. “With access to better data, our farmers can make more knowledgeable decisions, which is a huge value.”

The announcements that DFA will use these emerging technologies come at a time the Kansas City tech industry, and its future growth, is in question. Darr says that although these technologies will be used on farms across the country, the development of both blockchain and artificial intelligence has helped to grow Kansas City’s technology sector.

“The relationships that we have made like SomaDetect in the area of artificial intelligence, and ripe.io in the area of blockchain, have been founded and incubated primarily through our partnership with Sprint and the Sprint Accelerator,” Darr told Ingram’s. “The relationships that we’re having with companies that can have application to farmers and the dairy industry across the country really started with two national, Kansas City-based companies, collaborating on the area of technology and innovation.”

For another perspective on the need to grow Kansas City’s technology industry, check out our Ingram’s 20 in Their Twenties Assembly Report.