Today remote sensing technologies in combination with spatial analysis methods are becoming safe, accurate and cost-effective aids in agriculture. Sensors on systems such as satellites, drones or machines provide digital images and big data, which can be used to obtain knowledge about soil and plants in field and region area-wide, faster and more objectively than with conventional inspections. Who benefits from this information? Are they equally useful for farmers, industry, agricultural policy and society and what are the benefits for these user groups?

The ideal is for farmers to use sensor data to make better targeted field management decisions, to automate and document processes such as fertilisation and crop protection, to save resources and protect the environment. The agricultural industry supports this approach and offers farmers not only the means of production but also satellite imagery maps of their field zones of adapted application. Authorities use satellite technologies to steer field management in the interests of agricultural policy and the environment. And for society, objective information about the cultivation of agricultural raw materials and the traceability of products from farm to field can lead to more confidence in agriculture.

This discussion will look at different applications of remote sensing and big data in crop production and question the benefits of practical application for farmers, industry, agricultural policy and society, today and in the future.