The Role of IoT Sensors in Agriculture

Modern farms face growing pressure to do more with less—less water, less labor, and fewer resources overall. At the same time, unpredictable weather, rising input costs, and sustainability demands are making traditional farming methods harder to sustain.

That’s where smart technology steps in. With the right IoT sensors in place, farmers can monitor soil conditions, track livestock, and prevent equipment failures – all in real time. These tools don’t just collect data—they deliver clear insights that drive better decisions and stronger results.

In many agricultural operations, up to 50% of irrigation water is lost to inefficiencies like overwatering, runoff, or evaporation. And yet, water is becoming one of the most precious—and regulated—resources in farming. IoT (Internet of Things) smart sensors in agriculture offer a practical, proven way to address this. By monitoring soil moisture in real time, growers can deliver water only where and when it’s needed.

At TEKTELIC, we work directly with agricultural teams to close this gap with tailored LoRaWAN® agriculture solutions—whether it’s tracking soil moisture and pH, monitoring livestock, or maintaining critical assets. That’s the power of smart farming: better decisions, lower costs, and more sustainable operations driven by data—not assumptions.

Key Challenges Farmers Face Today

To understand the value of IoT sensors, it’s important to look at the everyday problems today’s farmers must solve. Farming has always been labor-intensive, but recent changes in climate, economics, and regulation have introduced new complexities.

Here’s a closer look at what farmers are up against today:

• Unpredictable Weather Patterns: Increasingly erratic rainfall, droughts, and extreme temperatures make it harder to plan and protect crop yield and livestock.
• Limited Resource Availability: Access to fresh water, fertile soil, and affordable energy is becoming more limited.
• Rising Operational Costs: Inputs like fertilizers, seeds, labor, and fuel continue to climb.
• Labor Shortages: Many farms struggle to find enough skilled workers, especially during peak seasons.
• Pest and Disease Outbreaks: Insects, fungi, and disease can wipe out yields if not caught early.
• Sustainability Pressures: Farmers must reduce water use and environmental impact.
• Market Volatility: Commodity pricing remains unpredictable.
• Equipment Downtime: Unplanned repairs during harvest are costly.

These challenges are forcing farmers to make faster decisions—often with limited resources and little margin for mistakes. That’s exactly where connected, real-time data from IoT sensors becomes essential.

What is IoT Sensors in Agriculture?

IoT sensors are small, durable devices placed throughout farms, greenhouses, or livestock areas to measure key environmental and operational data. These include soil conditions, air temperature, humidity, animal behavior, and equipment usage.

The data is transmitted through a LoRaWAN® network, which is well-suited for agriculture because of its long range, low power consumption, and minimal infrastructure requirements. Unlike traditional systems that rely on short-range Wi-Fi or cellular networks, LoRaWAN® supports wide-area deployments with only a few gateways—keeping costs low and connectivity reliable.

Each sensor becomes part of an intelligent system that transforms raw data into actionable insights. With this level of visibility, farmers can respond faster, automate processes, and plan more effectively.

What Do These Smart Farming Sensors Monitor?

• Soil Moisture Sensors: Optimize irrigation and fertilization by tracking soil health in real time.
• Environmental Sensors: Manage temperature, CO₂, humidity, and light in greenhouses or fields.
• Livestock Tracking Sensors: Monitor animal movement, location, and behavior.
• Asset Trackers: Detect equipment usage, prevent loss, and improve maintenance planning.

Why It Matters for Farmers

These sensors create a constant stream of actionable insights, and these are the real-world, data-backed benefits of deploying agriculture IoT solutions:

• Cut Water Usage by 20–30% with soil moisture sensors that stop wasteful overwatering.
• Reduce Fertilizer Use by 15–25% by applying nutrients based on real-time soil conductivity data.
• Improve Livestock Health by catching signs of illness early through wearable trackers.
• Extend Equipment Lifespan by 10–15% through vibration and usage monitoring.
• Lower Labor Costs by 25–40% by automating inspections and condition monitoring.
• Avoid Crop Loss from Frost or Drought with real-time alerts from field sensors.
• Support Certification & Traceability with digital logs of conditions and actions.

Curious how farms can achieve reliable IoT connectivity without high infrastructure costs? Discover how LoRaWAN® delivers scalable, cost-effective coverage in the article “Providing the Agricultural Sector with Smart and Cost-Efficient Connectivity Options”.

Types of IoT Sensors in Precision Agriculture

Different types of sensors work together to create a full picture of what’s happening in the field, in the greenhouse, or around the farm. Here’s an overview of the most important sensor types—and examples of how they are applied using proven smart farming practices.

1. Soil Moisture Sensors and Temperature Sensors

Why it matters: Precise soil monitoring prevents overwatering, reduces fertilizer waste, and improves plant health, leading to higher yields with lower input costs.

Example Solution:

• TEKTELIC KIWI and CLOVER Agriculture Soil Moisture Sensors continuously measures soil moisture levels, temperature, and electrical conductivity, helping farmers automate irrigation and increase crop growth based on real-time conditions.

2. Greenhouse Environmental Monitoring

Why it matters: Early detection of environmental changes can help prevent crop damage, optimize greenhouse operations, and adjust farming schedules proactively.

Example Solutions:

• TEKTELIC BREEZE sensor ideal for indoor climate monitoring.
• TEKTELIC COMFORT temperature and humidity sensors supports greenhouse or barn environments.

3. Livestock Tracking and Location Sensors

Why it matters: In large grazing areas or mixed farming environments, knowing where livestock are located helps prevent loss, improve pasture rotation, and reduce time spent on manual checks. Continuous tracking also supports better safety and operational control.

Did you know? Advanced livestock monitoring systems enable early detection of health issues, allowing for timely intervention. This proactive approach can reduce calf mortality rates and improve overall herd health (allflex).

4. Asset and Equipment Monitoring Sensors

Why it matters: Farm machinery and tools are often spread across large areas. Knowing their location and usage helps reduce downtime, avoid theft, and extend equipment life through more efficient maintenance scheduling.

Example Solution:

• TEKTELIC STORK Asset Tracker delivers real-time GPS tracking and condition monitoring for critical farm equipment and tools.
• PELICAN Enterprise Outdoor Tracker offers high-accuracy GPS sensor, accelerometer-based motion detection, and a robust IP67-rated enclosure. Ideal for long-term tracking of valuable or mobile assets.

Deploying a combination of these sensors creates a fully connected, data-driven precision farming. When integrated with a LoRaWAN® network, the sensors work seamlessly together, providing farmers with a live, comprehensive view of their entire operation—from soil and weather conditions to livestock health and machinery performance.

5. Personnel Safety and Movement Tracking

Why it matters: In large or remote farming operations, tracking not only assets but also people—especially lone workers or seasonal labor—is critical for safety, coordination, and compliance.

Example Solutions:

• TEKTELIC CHICKADEE Wearable Badge Tracker. A lightweight, badge-style tracker ideal for personnel monitoring in greenhouses, packing facilities, or open fields. Features include motion detection and emergency alert capabilities.
• TEKTELIC SEAL Wearable GPS Tracker. Designed for rugged agricultural environments, SEAL provides real-time location tracking, motion sensing, and geo-fencing alerts—ensuring worker safety in remote areas or during equipment operations.

6. Cold Chain Monitoring for Harvested Produce

Why it matters: Post-harvest losses can be significant if produce is exposed to temperature extremes. Cold chain monitoring helps protect crop value, comply with food safety standards, and reduce spoilage during distribution.

Example Solution:

• TEKTELIC TUNDRA Sensor designed for cold chain monitoring, TUNDRA tracks temperature, humidity, and movement in storage rooms, coolers, and transport vehicles. With an IP67-rated enclosure and multi-year battery life, it’s ideal for monitoring harvested produce across the entire post-harvest cycle—from field to processing facility.

Smart Farming That Works: Use Cases Powered by TEKTELIC

1. Smart Irrigation in Action: Community Garden Automation

Not all agricultural production happens on vast commercial farms. In one recent deployment, a community garden in Calgary became a powerful example of how even small-scale operations can benefit from IoT sensor technology.

The challenge: Volunteers couldn’t always maintain consistent watering across plots, leading to issues with overwatering, plant stress, and wasted effort—especially during dry periods or when no one was available to manage irrigation manually.

The solution: The garden was equipped with TEKTELIC’s KIWI Agriculture Sensor and KONA Micro Gateway to enable automated, condition-based irrigation. The KIWI Sensor—designed specifically for outdoor soil environments—measured real-time soil moisture, temperature, and electrical conductivity. When moisture levels dropped below a set threshold, the system triggered watering automatically.

The KONA Micro Gateway, with its compact form factor provided seamless connectivity for the sensors, even in a remote corner of the garden without cellular infrastructure. It allowed for local data processing, minimized bandwidth usage, and ensured the system worked independently without constant internet access.

Practical Outcomes:

• Consistent crop hydration without overwatering
• 30% reduction in water use compared to the previous season
• Less volunteer workload and improved plant health across all plots
• Educational value for urban gardeners learning about precision agriculture

This project demonstrated how modern farming practices —when designed with agriculture in mind can make even small-scale farming smarter, more efficient, and less dependent on manual labor.

2. Commercial-Scale Irrigation Efficiency

In larger farming operations of agricultural industry, water is often one of the most expensive and misused resources. In this deployment, a leading European fruit and vegetable grower producer to IoT to improve irrigation accuracy across a high-value crop field.

The challenge: Traditional irrigation was based on scheduled cycles, not actual field conditions. Without real-time insights into soil conditions, irrigation was based on fixed schedules, often leading to water waste, increased energy use, and uneven soil moisture across different zones.

The solution: The farm deployed TEKTELIC KIWI Agriculture Sensors to monitor soil moisture and temperature across different zones. The sensors communicated using LoRaWAN® connectivity, allowing data to be transmitted over long distances with low power consumption—ideal for the farm’s wide, open layout.

With live insights from the field, irrigation was automated and adjusted based on actual soil conditions—not fixed assumptions.

Practical Outcomes:

• More targeted irrigation based on real-time soil conditions;
• More consistent soil hydration, reducing stress on plants;
• Ability to manage multiple zones with variable needs;
• Sustainable and efficient cultivation practices.

This deployment highlights how LoRaWAN® and soil-level data can help growers move from reactive to proactive irrigation—boosting sustainability without adding operational complexity.

3. How LoRaWAN® Transforms Agricultural Practices

In this real-world deployment, a European farming company embraced IoT technology to improve how it monitors and manages growing conditions. The goal: to move away from reactive practices and toward smarter, data-driven decision-making.

The Challenge: Farmers needed better visibility into environmental variables—such as temperature, soil moisture, and humidity—that directly impact crop development. Manual checks and delayed responses were limiting efficiency and productivity.

The Solution: The farm implemented LoRaWAN®-enabled TEKTELIC sensors, including KIWI Soil Moisture Sensors, to continuously collect and transmit field data. With long-range wireless communication and low power consumption, the solution enabled reliable monitoring across large and remote agricultural plots.

Practical Outcomes:

• Real-time visibility into soil and climate conditions
• Optimized irrigation and resource use
• Improved crop health through timely interventions
• Reduced manual workload and better decision accuracy
• Scalable connectivity without the need for high-cost infrastructure.

This use case highlights how even modest digital upgrades can dramatically improve farm responsiveness and sustainability. When environmental data becomes instantly accessible, farmers can act with confidence—not just intuition.

Conclusion

Smarter farming starts with better visibility. TEKTELIC’s agriculture IoT solutions—spanning rugged sensors, reliable LoRaWAN® gateways, and long-life battery designs—are built to deliver actionable insights without complexity. With deployments across greenhouses, orchards, fields, and livestock operations, we design for scale, durability, and real-world farming outcomes.

If you’re looking for technology that just works—quietly in the background while you focus on what matters most—TEKTELIC is ready to support your journey toward smarter, more sustainable agriculture.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS (FAQS)

What Are Sensors in Agriculture?

Sensors in agriculture are devices that collect data from the environment to help farmers make informed decisions. These sensors can measure various factors like soil moisture, temperature, humidity, and plant health.

What types of sensors are used in precision agriculture?

In precision agriculture, a variety of sensors are used to monitor different aspects of crop production. Some common types of sensors include soil moisture sensors, weather stations, drones equipped with cameras, and GPS technology for mapping fields.

What are the types of sensors used in agriculture?

There are several types of sensors used in agriculture, including:

1. Soil sensors: measure soil moisture, temperature, and nutrient levels
2. Weather sensors: monitor temperature, humidity, rainfall, and wind speed
3. Plant sensors: assess plant health, growth, and nutrient levels
4. Location sensors: provide precise location data for mapping fields and guiding machinery.