The promise of precision agriculture is to use farmers' raw data about activity on their farms to guide seed selection, make yield predictions and alert growers about water or fertilizer needs. According to Scott Duncan, the leader of Bain & Company's North American Agriculture practice, "They see big data solutions as the most effective means to demonstrate the efficacy of their seed variety or molecule." 

Peter Guarraia, Bain's North American Chemicals practice leader, also discusses why the agriculture industry needs to figure out where the next big innovations will come from. "There seems to be a 20-year cycle that drives adoption, penetration and yield, and we have reached the end of the current cycle," he says. "The important question is, 'What is the next big thing?' It could be precision agriculture—I suspect it will be a combination of things. But it is a big, big issue."