Several articles discuss how smart farming practices could narrow the productivity gap between developing and industrial countries by increasing competition and raising the standard of living Though much of the focus of smart farming constructs is on the fusion of analytical and mechanical innovations and the potential benefits for agricultural production, smart farming will also drive changes in societal structures, the economy, business models, and public policy as it relates to agriculture.Lombardi et al.and Klerkx et al.argue that social innovation initiatives brought about by smart farming could provide opportunity to strengthen relationships among rural populations, improve social networking and engender a new sense of ‘responsible professionalism’, which may prevent rural marginalization.On the other hand, innovative changes could have negative socio-ethical implications, such as widespread technical unemployment due to automation, cultural changes in farming practices from a “hands-on” approach to a data driven approach.Furthermore, farmers may experience an identity crisis, especially if they do not provide input to data driven decision-making.Other misgivings expressed by Bronson are that research and investment in smart farms are biased towards large-commodity crop farmers,strawberry gutter system and do not address the needs of medium-sized and small-sized farm holders.Smart farming solutions in the U.S.and Canada have created ‘lock-in’ technologies, for example a packaging of proprietary crop seeds, specialized fertilizer and pesticide combinations, sensor monitoring systems and software that contains hidden algorithms to manage the data from the sensors and have been used to maximize crop production.Today, the product service system is a common business model in many industries and is closely linked to innovation and sustainability of businesses.The PSS facilitates monopolistic opportunities for large agrochemical companies.
Rotz et al.warns that historically, the consequences of advanced technologies cause deleterious effects such as land consolidation and cost-price squeeze that adversely impact small scale and marginalized farmers.Marketing and distribution are critical towards a smooth transition from traditional farming to smart farming and must also be addressed to ensure successful transfer of farm-holders’ rights.Existing reviews on smart farming tend to have either a singular focus on the advanced technologies or have a heavy slant towards the political economic aspects of smart farming.This review juxtaposes technological advantages and disadvantages of smart farming with social benefits and social challenges by comparing the status of smart farming solutions between the U.S.and South Korea, 1) beginning with a discussion of agricultural resources and production systems; 2) briefly describing the challenges facing sustainable agricultural production; 3) investigating the frameworks and reasonings for the smart farming solutions developed; and 4) identifying the potential positive and negative impacts that could result from the implementation of smart farming solutions.A discussion of each of these four topics as they pertain to either the U.S.or South Korea provides insight as to reasoning for each country’s approach to smart farming solutions, predicted benefits and potential negative impacts that smart farming could have on the actors involved in agricultural production.The research method used in this study was a literature survey, searching on Scopus and Science Direct databases using “Smart Farming” in the title and key words of published journals.Agricultural data was also collected from FAOSTAT, USDA-NAS and USDA-FAS, news articles, country reports, and books.The data was used to provide a comparison of agricultural resources, challenges, and approaches to smart farm solutions between the U.S.and South Korea to understand each country’s reasoning for pursuing smart farming solutions.Because there is a dichotomy in opinion regarding the positive impacts from the technological advances of smart farming and the potential negative societal impacts, this article includes a description of the positive and potential negative impacts from the two different approaches pursued by the U.S.and South Korea.Information is also provided from the field experience and communication that the authors have in working with producers and agriculture industry members within their own country.
In 2020, approximately 363 million ha, 37% of total land area in the U.S., was under agricultural production with more than 2 million open-field farms in operation.At least 34% of the farmed area was cultivated with grain crops for animal feed, such as corn and sorghum, while acreage in soybean and wheat were roughly 25% and 13% of the total cultivated area, respectively.Acreage for orchards, vegetables and melons represented less than 3% of total acreage in production, but these crops contributed to more than 24% of the value of the principal crops grown in the U.S..Spatial distribution of these major crops shows that grain crops are grown mostly throughout the Midwest and in the Northern and Southern Plains regions.Cotton and soybeans are grown mainly in the southern region, while specialty crops are more abundant in the coastal regions near California and Florida.The average U.S.farm size in 2020 was 180 ha , and the trend continues towards larger-sized farms.Organic farming is important to mention as it represents 5% of agricultural sales and annual sales have increased by 31% between 2016 and 2019.Certified organic acres operated in the U.S.in 2020 totaled 2.23 million ha.Of this acreage, approximately 1.42 million ha produced organic crop commodities.The reported area dedicated to food crops under greenhouse production was 1,321 ha.Most crop producing farms in the U.S.are family owned , and many families are members of agricultural cooperatives, existing as independent private businesses to enable better access to financing, supplies and markets.In South Korea, approximately 22% of land is arable, while the remaining land is mountainous or urbanized.Agriculture in South Korea strives to combine cultural heritage, societal needs, while emphasizing adaptation to local conditions and maintaining rural livelihoods.The total area cultivated for agriculture in South Korea in 2019 was 1.58 million ha, representing a decrease of 29% from 1975 mainly due to land development for industrial complexes and residential housing.While agricultural acreage overall is decreasing in South Korea, farm size in the past 45 years has been increasing from 0.94 ha to 1.57 ha.Acreage for rice paddy fields has also experienced a downward trend in the past 45 years.However, rice continues to be the dominant crop grown in South Korea.In 2020, 52% of the total agricultural area was planted with rice and the remaining 48% of agricultural acreage was diversified towards production of other grains, vegetables, fruits, specialty crops, and flowers , data is from FAOSTAT.While the cultivated area in the open fields decreased, the cultivated area in protected facilities increased by 7.2% per year since 1979, and the absolute acreage in 2016 was approximately 83,629 ha.
Fifty percent of the greenhouse acreage is dedicated to vegetable and fruit production, 27% is relegated to condiment and root vegetables, 10% is dedicated to leafy and stem vegetables, 9% is devoted to fruit trees, and the remaining 4% is for flowering plants.The spatial distribution of the main crop types produced within the major provinces are shown in Fig.4.In the U.S., river systems, reservoirs and aquifers play an important role in supplying water for everyday life.Total water withdrawals from surface and groundwater sources in the U.S.per day in 2015 were approximately 1.22 billion m3.Roughly 70% of the freshwater withdrawals are from surface-water sources making precipitation and snow pack data essential for supply forecasting of surface-water sources.Major withdrawals in the west are predominately for irrigation, while those in the east are for thermoelectric power.Daily withdrawals for agriculture represented 39.7 % of total water use in the U.S.in 2015, of which nearly 50% are from groundwater sources.Dam structures have been used to increase water storage capacity and distribution for agricultural production and to decrease climate uncertainty.Pressurized irrigation systems, mostly center pivot sprinklers, dominate the method of application to irrigated acres across the U.S..Total annual water resources in South Korea amount to approximately 132.3 billion m3.Annual water use in 2014 was reported to be 37.2 billion m3.Water use among agricultural, industrial and household sectors were 40.9%, 6.2 % and 20.4 % of the total annual water used.Since two-thirds of the topography in South Korea is mountainous, most rivers drain into reservoirs built to store runoff and supply water during the dry season.However, a constant supply of quality water is difficult to manage as roughly 43% of surface water is lost through evaporation and soil penetration, while during the rainy season,grow strawberry in containers run off is lost in floods and estuaries.Data summarizing natural resources of land and water are shown in Table 1.Throughout the U.S.there is competition for water between sectors and states.Governance of water is different in each of the fifty states.Historically state laws address statutory guidance for water use and quality, but governance policies, ownership type , and levels of enforcement vary from state to state.In many states, groundwater management districts comprised a variety of interest groups and local farmers establish management plans for conservation, recharge and preservation of groundwater resources for municipal and agricultural water use.Limited quality water resources due to the depletion of groundwater from the Ogallala Aquifer in the Great Plains region in south of Nebraska, and drought conditions in the western and south-central U.S.continue to threaten crop production and reduce natural stream flow and snow pack.
In South Korea, rural regions are vulnerable to water deficits in irrigation districts due to seasonal variations in precipitation and water quality issues.Estimation of agricultural water demand is critical for long-term planning and management.In recent years, available agricultural water resources were gradually diminished due to water shortages caused by drought and heat waves.Climate variability also makes it difficult to estimate supply and demand.Climate variability and climate change have altered the distribution of water storage and water fluxes in the U.S..Hydrologic vulnerability maps show that temperature and potential evapotranspiration consistently project a high vulnerability of the western states to climate conditions.Direct effects of climate change on crops and livestock include an increase in: annual average and seasonal air temperatures, growing season length, number of hot days and hot nights, variable precipitation patterns, and higher concentrations of CO2..It is estimated that these effects on crop production will continue to be spatially and temporally variable across the continental U.S., especially across counties in the Midwest where grain crops are the predominant crop type.It is generally accepted that in some regions, predicted yields will increase while in other regions, yields will decline.States in the northern part of the country are expected to see an increase in precipitation along with an increase in air temperature and growing season length.Yu et al.projected that by 2050, increasing air temperature due to climate change will lead to a yield decrease in corn and soybeans in the U.S.by at least 13% and 57%, respectively.This forecast assumes that climate-neutral bio-technical changes will continue to increase corn and soybean yields at annual rates like those in the past 45 years.Suttles et al., using SWAT simulations, projected that stream flow would increase causing flooding, while base flow will decrease leading to extremely low flows in all future scenarios of land use and climate change in the southeast U.S.Changes in climate and groundwater storage will affect future irrigated areas and likely affect public policy.The Korean peninsula is also highly impacted by climate change.For the past century, the average ambient temperature in South Korea has risen by 1.1 °C , and precipitation has increased by almost 160 mm annually.Furthermore, there is a growing trend of longer summer and shorter winter seasons.Currently, South Korea experiences a 4 to 6-year cycle of extreme droughts and rainfall events that result in extreme heat waves and flooding under the East Asian monsoonal circulation.The country’s exposure to extreme conditions including total annual precipitation, daily maximum rainfall, drought duration and drought severity is projected to continue to be spatially variable and occurrences are likely to increase if greenhouse gases continue to be released at their current rate.The agricultural sector contributes nearly 3.4% to the total GHG emissions in South Korea, of which 58% is from crop cultivation and 42% is attributable to livestock farming.Using long-term spatial and temporal data, Nam et al.showed that significant differences in annual reference evapotranspiration have occurred in the Midwest and Southwest regions of the peninsula since the early 1970’s.Considering the current status of temperature, precipitation and extreme climate events in South Korea, a long-term outlook suggests marked differences in the South Korean agricultural geography after 2050.Unexpected environmental variables increase year by year and continue to threaten food security in South Korea.The scientific and Technological Prediction Survey suggests that water and food shortages are linked to the intensifying trend of climate warming, and that the current situation of abnormal climates are megatrends, because they are ultimately related to agricultural production.