PRD Template for Agriculture Tech Products

Example: "Farmers apply nitrogen fertilizer uniformly across fields at an average rate of 180 lbs/acre, but soil variability means 35% of the field is over-fertilized and 20% is under-fertilized. Over-application wastes $42/acre in unnecessary input costs and contributes to nitrogen runoff. Under-application reduces yield by an estimated 12 bu/acre in affected zones. Variable-rate application guided by soil sampling could reduce input costs by 15% while improving yield by 8% in under-fertilized zones."

Example: "Primary: Enable variable-rate fertilizer application that reduces nitrogen input cost by 15% ($6.30/acre) while maintaining or improving yield. Accuracy: Prescription maps must achieve agronomic accuracy within 10% of university trial recommendations. Adoption: 200 farms using the platform by second growing season. Connectivity: Full functionality in areas with no cellular coverage via offline mode with satellite sync."

Example: "As a farmer scouting a corn field, I want to mark problem areas on a satellite field map with photos and notes from my phone so that my agronomist can review them remotely and recommend treatment without visiting the farm. Acceptance criteria: works offline with GPS-located pins on cached satellite imagery; photos geo-tagged and linked to field map; syncs automatically when connectivity returns; agronomist receives notification with all scouting data organized by field."

Example: "FR-1: Field boundary detection from satellite imagery with manual correction capability; support for CLU (Common Land Unit) import from USDA FSA. FR-2: Variable-rate prescription map generation in shapefile format compatible with John Deere, Case IH, and AGCO equipment controllers. FR-3: Soil sampling grid generation with configurable density (2.5-acre, 5-acre, 10-acre grids) and sample point navigation via GPS. FR-4: Satellite imagery analysis (NDVI, NDRE) with 10m resolution from Sentinel-2 and optional 3m from Planet Labs."

Example: "CR-1: ISOBUS (ISO 11783) compatibility for equipment communication — support task controller data exchange with compatible implements. CR-2: Data export in USDA-accepted formats for crop insurance reporting and FSA program compliance. CR-3: Sustainability reporting: calculate and report nitrogen use efficiency, greenhouse gas emissions per bushel, and input reduction metrics per Field to Market framework. CR-4: Data ownership: farmer retains ownership of all farm data; data sharing with third parties requires explicit consent per American Farm Bureau data principles."

Example: "Agronomic: Average yield improvement in variable-rate vs uniform application zones. Target: 5% yield improvement. Economic: Input cost savings per acre. Target: $6.30/acre (15% nitrogen reduction). Adoption: Farms actively using the platform. Target: 200 by Season 2. Data quality: Prescription map accuracy vs university trial benchmarks. Target: within 10%. Connectivity: Percentage of field activities completed offline without data loss. Target: 100%."

Example: "Phase 1 (Fall): Field setup and soil sampling tools. Milestone: 50 fields mapped and sampled. Phase 2 (Winter): Prescription map generation and equipment integration testing. Milestone: Variable-rate prescriptions compatible with 3 major equipment brands. Phase 3 (Early Spring): Pre-season launch for spring planting. Milestone: 100 farms using prescriptions for spring fertilizer application. Phase 4 (Summer): In-season satellite monitoring and scouting tools. Phase 5 (Fall): Harvest data collection and yield analysis."

Example: "Risk: Variable-rate prescription under-applies fertilizer in high-yield zones, causing yield loss. Likelihood: Medium. Impact: High (farmer loses income and trust). Mitigation: Conservative recommendations biased toward over-application initially; validation against university trial data; agronomist review of prescriptions before equipment upload. Risk: Equipment integration fails during planting — farmer cannot apply variable-rate prescription. Likelihood: Medium. Impact: Critical (narrow planting window). Mitigation: Test with actual equipment pre-season; provide flat-rate fallback prescription; 24/7 phone support during planting season."

Example: "Integration 1: Equipment — John Deere Operations Center, Case IH AFS Connect, AGCO Fuse via shapefile and ISO-XML data exchange. Integration 2: Satellite — Sentinel-2 (free, 10m, 5-day revisit), Planet Labs (paid, 3m, daily). Integration 3: Weather — DTN or NOAA for hyperlocal weather forecasts and growing degree day calculations. Integration 4: FMIS — Granular, Bushel, FarmLogs for field records and financial tracking. Integration 5: Soil labs — electronic soil test result import from major commercial labs."

Example: "Q1: Should we build our own agronomic models or partner with university extension programs? In-house provides differentiation but requires agronomic expertise. Decision owner: Head of Product. Needed by: 3 months before target planting season. Q2: Connectivity strategy: cellular + WiFi sync, satellite (Starlink), or LoRa mesh network? Each has different cost and coverage profiles. Decision owner: CTO. Needed by: 4 months pre-season. Q3: Per-acre pricing or per-farm subscription? Per-acre scales with farm size but is complex to meter. Decision owner: CEO. Needed by: 3 months pre-season."