A proposal for innovating Crop Insurance utilizing IOT. **Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.**

1. CropAware©
A Proposal for a Connected Crop Insurance System
Matt Kulangara
8/1/2016
Opinions are my own and not the views of my employer.

2. Introduction
• Crop Insurance in the US is a Federally Subsidized Insurance Program
– Insurance Companies Sell and Service Crop Insurance Policies, and
Large Losses are paid by the Federal Government
– Crop Insurance covers losses to farmers to crops from natural events:
(droughts, hail, flood) and from losses due reduction of crop prices
– Crop insurance is Mandatory for Farmers who want to be
compensated by the Federal Government
Crops Damaged by Hail
Crop Insurance currently insures 100M Acres
of Farmland in the US with an annual losses
exceeding $100B. Roughly 4% of Losses can
be attributed to “Abuse” or fraud (Chase,
2016). When Losses are not covered by
Premiums, Losses are covered by the Tax
Payer.

3. Crop Insurance
• Pricing Methodology
– Premium= f(type of Crop, Acres Planted, County)
– County gives idea of potential environmental factors (susceptibility to drought, hail, etc.)
– Acres Planted gives an idea of total possible loss to revenue
• Flaws in methodology
– County doesn’t necessarily give an idea of how arable land is (is it swampy, on a slope,
etc. )
– Acres Planted are not verified and can be a cause of Insurance Fraud
• Claims
– It is expensive to check every claim of loss, and most claims are not checked

4. CropAware© Overview
• CropAware© creates a connected system for monitoring
crops by Insurers and Farmers
– That Safeguards against the most common cause of
Insurance Fraud – Erroneous Crop Acreage and
integrates with the Federal ACRSI System (USDA,
2016)
– Gives more accurate estimates of crop yield by taking
soil conditions and topology into consideration
beyond just county level estimates.
– Provides real-time reporting of potential claims with
imaging and weather sensors– without the need for
expensive site visits by adjusters.
– Using proprietary logic estimate accurate losses after
an environmental event

5. Benefits of CropAware©
• To Farmers
– Gives Farmers a Real-time dashboard of soil conditions (moisture), wind speed, and
Temperature as well as integration with Weather forecasts. This tool will allow
farmers to be proactive and to maximize profits.
– Integration allows faster Claims Payments
• To Insurers
– Allows Insurers to set policy conditions for Risk Control and select more compliant
farmers
• Example: If Farmers keep moisture level above a certain level, provide Premium Reductions
– Allow better assessment of risks by integrating sensor data with climate and
geographic data
– Save costs to mitigate Insurance Fraud- Adjusters are not needed for claims
– Transparent Integration with Federal Systems
• To Society and Government
– Savings in Losses assumed by Government and the Tax Payer by reducing Insurance
Fraud

6. CropAware© How it Works
• System Consists of
– Device (CropPath) that plugs into the diagnostic port of seeding tractor that transmits true
planted acreage, using embedded GPS hardware and software to a Gateway through
WiMAX.
– Wireless Movable Sensor Cluster(s) that are placed strategically every 100 acres (Software
suggests placement). Sensors measure temperature, wind speed, PH, and also include a
Hail Sensor. The cluster also has a camera that takes infrared pictures. Data is submitted
hourly to the Gateway.
– A centrally located Wired Gateway , that has a WiMAX connection and a Transceiver for
communication with CropAware’s© Proprietary Cloud Platform.
• Transceiver receives weather alerts and sends data every hour that is cleansed from the CropPath Device and all
Sensor Clusters

7. How it Works - Continued
– User Interfaces
• A Farmer UI as a Website and IOS/Android App
– Farmer receives push notifications of crop conditions, and any relevant climate events
– Farmer receives insight on the best areas to plant crops for best results
– Farmer receives guidelines on where to best to position Sensor Clusters
– Notifications on status of connected components from the Gateway
• A Dashboard for Insurers
– Gives True picture of Damage after Losses from images
– Allows Insurers to make sure that Crops are actually been grown on arable lands
– Allows Insurers to identify Farmers that are negligent in not growing crops
– Provides Portfolio level Analytics from Data Mined data across all served Farms that allows Insurers to allocate
Reserves
• Interface to Federal Systems
– Interfaces directly to the Federal ACRSI System, loading data securely directly to the Federal Government’s Risk
Assessment and Fraud Detection Tool

8. CropAware© Architecture Highlights:
1. Sensor Clusters powered by
Solar
2. Sensor Cluster has sensors for
PH, infrared Temp Sensor, wind
Sensor, Hail Sensor, and a still
image camera
3. CropPath Device draws energy
from Seeding Tractor
4. All components (Gateway +
Sensor Cluster(s) + CropPath)
communicate with WiMAX
5. The Gateway connects with the
local LAN
6. Gateway has 32GB of Storage
and pushes data to the cloud
twice a day or when space has
been exhausted.
Design Choice:
WiMAX selected because of
distances (up to 30 miles)could be
used for transmission. (Reardon,
2008)

9. CropAware© Sensor Cluster Design Sketch
Sensors Included:
1. Still Camera
2. Infrared Temperature Sensor
3. Hail Sensor (Vaisala Raincap© Sensor) (Vaisala 2016)
4. Wind Turbine-Style Sensor (Vaisala Windcap© Sensor)- Vaisala.com
5. pH Sensor (Edyn Sensor) (Markhan, 2015)- Vaisala.com
Operation:
1. Readings taken hourly and sent to Gateway
2. Gateway scrubs data and submits to CropAware© Cloud twice a day
3. Sensor Cluster does not receive
Power:
1. Solar Powered with backup standalone Car Battery
Security:
1. Data is not encrypted, however data is signed, so that data cannot be
spoofed and set to the Gateway
Ease of Install:
1. Weighs under 20 lbs and easily movable
2. Delivered in box with minimal installation
3. Designed to be installed by lay person

10. Design Sketch – CropPath©
Sensors Included:
1. Includes GPS chip
Operation:
1. When Seed Tractor is Powered on, GPS position is collected every 5
minutes
2. Data is transmitted through WiMAX. Acreage is calculated based on
collected data
Power:
1. Powered directly by Tractor (no battery in CropPath©
Security:
1. Data is not encrypted, however data is signed, so that data cannot be
spoofed and set to the Gateway
Ease of Install:
1. All that is required is plugin into Diagnostic Port
2. On Startup Heartbeat message is sent through WiMAX to Gateway
3. Led light indicates connectivity with Gateway

11. User Interaction
Farm Interface
Interface shows acreage on Farm, areas of
concern, Warnings, and a Farm Snapshot
Interface assists in positioning Sensor
Clusters and also shows Connectivity Status

12. User Interface Design- Continued
Insurance Company Interfaces
Farm Loss Interface projects Losses at the
Farm Policy level due to an climate event.
Interface shows projected portfolio level
losses across all insured farms in an area
due to a single climate event.

13. CropAware© Product Introduction
CropPath© Standalone Offering
• Sold to Farmers
• Consists of CropPath© and
Gateway
• Integrates with ACRSI and
mandatory Acreage reporting
• UI Provides Insights to Farmer
• Price point: $1500 with
$50/month service fee
• Cost to Build: $300
CropAware© Complete System
• Sold to Insurers
• Website will allow Farmer to configure
System and number of Sensor Clusters
• Insurers provide System for free to
Insured Farmers and see reduction in
Losses
• Plus all the benefits of CropPath©
• Price Point: $1200 + $250/Sensor
Cluster and $50/month service fee
• Cost to Build: $300 + $100/sensor
cluster
Size of Potential Market: $4B

14. References
1. Chase, S. (2016, July). RMA touts crop insurance statistics | AgriPulse. Retrieved August 01, 2016, from http://www.agri-pulse.com/RMA-touts-crop-
insurance-statistics-07072016.asp
2. Markham, D. (2015). From Kickstarter to Home Depot: Edyn smart garden sensor brings IOT to your garden. Retrieved August 01, 2016, from
http://www.treehugger.com/gadgets/kickstarter-home-depot-edyn-smart-garden-sensor-brings-iot-your-garden.html
3. Reardon, M. (2008). What's the big deal about WiMax? Retrieved August 02, 2016, from http://www.cnet.com/news/whats-the-big-deal-about-wimax/
4. USDA. (2016). Frequently Asked Questions- Acreage Crop Reporting Streamlining Initiative (ACRSI). Retrieved August 02, 2016, from
http://www.rma.usda.gov/help/faq/acrsi.html