Smart devices, soil testers, climate sensors, and countless other types of decision support tools are becoming mainstays in traditional farm operations. Perhaps the most groundbreaking of all precision ag tools are unmanned aerial systems (UAS), and the intrigue of putting drone technology to work on the farm has the whole industry buzzing.

Entira, a marketing and management consulting firm for food and agribusiness, is preparing to launch two new multi-client studies, both geared toward learning where farmers stand with these technologies and how they might use them in their own operations.

This fall, Entira will launch “Precision Agriculture and Big Data: Charting the Oceans of Opportunity” and “Unmanned Aerial Systems in Agriculture: A First Look at How New Advancements Could Deliver Value to Farmers.” Both studies will include quantitative and in-depth qualitative interviews with industry players and farmers to dig deep into what’s driving decisions.

“Our precision ag study is actually the third in-depth research project Entira has led on this sector in recent years. Those conducted in 2010 and 2012 offered a bird’s eye view of the rapidly changing landscape in precision agriculture. In this third study, we are turning the focus to the providers of precision agriculture tools and solutions that help growers get a handle on their own big data,” said Dave Rye, senior associate, Entira, Inc.

Entira is currently enrolling companies as subscribers in both studies, which gives them the opportunity to collaborate on the strategy and line of questions, including proprietary questions tailored to each subscribers’ business. The enrollment deadline for the precision ag study is September 15, 2014, while the UAS study enrollment deadline is September 30, 2014. More details about both of the studies is available on Entira’s research page.

The multi-client study approach allows companies the opportunity to get unbiased, unfiltered opinions straight from leading farmers — at a fraction of the cost of proprietary research. By jointly funding research, companies can gather important information and save internal resources for program implementation.

“Entira has a unique approach to the qualitative phase of our research in that we go straight to the source, spending one-on-one time with farmers to glean their perspective,” said Nancy Appelquist, director of operations, Entira. “Most of our associates have connections to production agriculture, so they know how to talk to farmers and can extract really valuable insight during these visits.”