Exercise: Mapping Your Farm's Agriculture Data Ecosystem


Now that you have learned about the wide range of agriculture data sources that can exist in a farm business, let's put this knowledge into practice to inventory the data sources you have on your farm and map out the different parts of your data ecosystem.  

This exercise is a simplified version of the  data ecosystem mapping tool  developed by the  Open Data Institute , a UK-based non-profit organization. By the end of this exercise you will have a first draft of your farm’s data ecosystem that will resemble this mapping done for the Airbus supply chain in the aerospace industry.
Source:  Open Data Institute 


Step 1: Inventory of Data Sources, Equipment and Tools

Make a long list of all the different sources of data that are present on your farm, or in your farm business. Make sure you include pieces of equipment, machinery or software tools that interact with your agricultural data. For reference go back to the  📁⁠⁠Catalogue of Agriculture Data⁠ we developed earlier in the module.

To make sure you have a good list, think about the following:
  • Who are the agriculture retailers, agtech, and machinery companies that are most closely connected to your farm business?
  • What types of equipment, machinery or software tools do you use that create or manage agricultural data?
  • Do you send any of your agriculture data to any of your customers, financial institutions, regulators? If so, how?

At this point do not worry how the various data sources interact with each other.

Another Way to Think About and Organize Farm Data

As we mentioned earlier there are a number of different ways to organize your agriculture data.  

Check out  the TopSoil newsletter  by Ariel Patton for another approach to thinking about your agriculture data that organizes data sources into five categories:  Public, remote sensing, equipment, laboratory, sensors and non-digital.

You may find this to be another good way to think through the various data sources and data management tools that are in use on your farm.


Step 2: Map Out Your Farm’s Data Ecosystem

Find a large piece of paper or a whiteboard that you can use to sketch you farm's data ecosystem. You can also use an online tool like  Miro ,  Kumu  or  draw.io  to draw out your data ecosystem using the help of a free software tool. That said, we recommend you try doing the first few drafts of your farm’s data ecosystem using pen and paper. The first few drafts of your data ecosystem will be messy and using an online tool is likely to be inefficient.


Step 3: Initial Stakeholder Mapping

Using solid circles or sticky notes, plot out all the companies, organizations, people, services or key devices or pieces of equipment that interact with your agriculture data.  

Look back and update your inventory of data sources to see if you have identified any additional data collection tools, service providers, agtech companies, customers, key pieces of equipment, etc.

Farm workers and a range of trusted advisors (e.g. agronomists, accountants, lawyers, etc.) often play important roles with data collection, data management and data analysis on-farm. As a result, it is important that they are properly represented in your farm data ecosystem (e.g. how they access data, the software tools they are using, etc.).



Step 4: Map Out Data and Other Value Exchanges

Using the initial stakeholder mapping, draw lines with directional arrows and add labels to show where data is being exchanged. 

You can also add lines using another colour, or colours, to show when money (e.g. subscription fees), physical goods, certifications, or services are part of the data exchange.



Step 5: Finding Opportunities

Finally, are you considering purchasing any new equipment or engaging new trusted advisors in the near future? What types of additions to your farm’s data ecosystem would strengthen your farm business? 

Insert new circles (or sticky notes), lines and labels in a new colour and add these potential additions into your farm’s data ecosystem to your mapping. 



Congratulations! You have now completed your first draft of your farm’s data ecosystem.

This should be a working but reasonably accurate model of how data flows within and around your farm. We will build on this concept in 🗺️⁠⁠Creating an On-Farm Network Map⁠  in Module 6 as part of improving your level of cybersecurity readiness.

At this point it is okay if the ecosystem map is a bit messy. We recommend you return to this exercise periodically to update the ecosystem mapping. We find that ecosystem maps usually become cleaner and more organized over time as you become more familiar with the network of data relationships that make up your data ecosystem.

That said, by mapping out your farm’s data ecosystem you have taken an important step towards better understanding and managing your on-farm data sources and data flows. This knowledge will prime you to have discussions with trusted advisors and technology vendors, and is a great starting point for managing risks associated with privacy or cybersecurity, and more. 



Next:  ⁠⁠Summary⁠