Education
In the past 40 years, the emergence of technology—especially personal technology—has unleashed a vast river of data. Personal computers, the Internet, mobile phones, and especially their pocket-sized Frankenstein, the smart phone, have opened our lives up to corporations, law enforcement, scam artists, and sometimes, thrill-seekers. You may not think that the average farm or ranch would generate this kind of data, and you’d be right—they probably generate more. Terry Griffin is an associate professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics at Kansas State University, and a K-State Research and Extension cropping systems economist. His recent focus has been on this “Big Data” generated by today’s agriculture—who owns it, who has rights to it, and where does it all go?