Daedong partners with Nonghyup to commercialize precision farming services

Daedong is teaming up with Nonghyup to commercialize a "precision farm-work contracting service" that combines AI farm machinery with precision agriculture technology. As rural aging and labor shortages drive rapid growth in Nonghyup's farm-work contracting operations, the company aims to boost efficiency by layering AI and data onto the existing labor- and equipment-based contracting model.

Daedong announced Monday that it held a demonstration of AI farm machinery and precision agriculture technology on Aug. 28 at the Rural Development Administration's Reclaimed Land Agriculture Research Center in Gimje, North Jeolla Province, for about 40 managers and field staff from local Nonghyup branches nationwide who oversee farm-work contracting.

At the event, Daedong presented how its AI farm machinery, precision agriculture solutions and farm-work management platform can be applied to actual farming operations. Demonstrations covered precision soil analysis, variable-rate fertilization, precision seeding using smart seeders, autonomous and unmanned operation of AI tractors, drone-based crop growth analysis and precision pest control, and transport robots.

Farm-work contracting is a service in which Nonghyup deploys farm machinery and labor on behalf of farming households that request tasks such as tillage, seeding, fertilizer application and harvesting. Demand for the service has been growing as rural aging and labor shortages worsen.

The number of Nonghyup branches participating in the farm-work contracting program rose about 31 percent, from 222 in 2024 to 290 last year. The area covered under upland crop contracting also grew about 19 percent over the same period, from 161,000 hectares to 191,000 hectares. Because farm work tends to concentrate in specific windows of the growing season, the larger the contracting operation grows, the more critical it becomes to have systems in place for timely equipment and personnel deployment and schedule management.

Daedong's precision farm-work contracting model integrates AI farm machinery, a farm-work management platform and precision agriculture solutions into the existing labor and field operations framework. Farming requests and field data are managed through the platform, which is then used to draw up work plans and assign operators and machinery. Work schedules, progress updates and results data are also accumulated in the system.

Variable-rate fertilization — applying different amounts of fertilizer to different plots depending on need — is one of the key technologies involved. By analyzing soil conditions and crop growth to apply inputs only where and in the quantities required, Daedong expects the approach to improve both the efficiency of agricultural input use and overall work quality.

The initiative is also tied to the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs' National Agricultural AI Transformation Platform construction and operation project, in which Daedong serves as the lead company. The Daedong consortium was selected as the final operator for the project in July. Total project investment stands at 254.6 billion won ($188 million), with Daedong, LG CNS, Daedong Agtech, Daeyoung GS and Art Farm Agricultural Corporation among the participants.

The project centers on connecting an AI and data platform, AI greenhouses and precision farm-work services into a single agricultural AI transformation framework. A 21.6-hectare AI greenhouse will also be built in Muan, South Jeolla Province. The project consortium has set a target of generating cumulative sales of 1.53 trillion won over 20 years through business models that include the precision farm-work service.

Daedong plans to use data accumulated through the National Agricultural AI Transformation Platform — covering farms, farmland, soil, crop growth, weather and farm machinery — to inform work planning and precision prescriptions. Work data generated in the field will in turn feed back into the platform, creating a cycle designed to improve the accuracy and operational efficiency of the farm-work contracting service.

"We will work with Nonghyup branches nationwide to bring the AI farm machinery and precision agriculture technology Daedong has built up into actual farming operations across the country," said Park Yun-seong, head of Daedong's precision agriculture division. "We will develop a business model that raises both the efficiency and quality of farm work, built on the foundation of the National Agricultural AI Transformation Platform."