SBIR-STTR Award

Across the US nearly all business sectors have enthusiastically adopted new technology. In direct contrast the crop insurance industry has been slow to adopt spatial technology -Earth observation satellite-based remote sensing image analysis GIS and digital recordkeeping. Spatial technology holds great promise to enhance accuracy efficiency productivity and profits for the crop insurance industry. This SBIR Phase I proposal seeks to test market interest accuracy and utility for a suite of conceptual-stage spatial technology tools toward commercialization. To assure relevancy of the proposed tools a strategic partner crop insurer will cooperate to receive use and evaluate accuracy and utility. To assure that the proposed tools will fit within a strict regulatory environment oversight and involvement has been requested from the USDA-Risk Management Agency responsible for administration and regulation of the crop insurance industry. If the results from this initial test application are positive the proposed tools will be adjusted according to project feedback and then programmed for automation. Automation will enable expansion to regional-scale operational conditions with the strategic partner crop insurer in a subsequent Phase II. From this initial SBIR Phase I research to eventual commercialization a phased program incorporating these concepts will have an outsized and positive impact compared to the funds expended. All parties involved in US crop insurance will benefit from spatial technology; insurance providers; USDA-RMA farmers and the taxpayers subsidizing the industry.