Day 10 in The Netherlands started with a train ride to Utrecht, the city that our tour guide Sophia lives in. For this trip we did not have to run for any trains which I was thankful for and the whole group made it to Utrecht safely. 

Today our group toured Aurea Imaging, which is a precision agriculture firm based in Utrecht. Aurea uses drones and computer imaging to allow farmers to understand the Star of their crops better. Aurea drones take 360 images of crops and can make gps maps that contain data such as vigor, height or buds per limb. All these factors contribute to the size, taste and sustainability of the fruit. Through the use of Aurea’s service, farmers can make their crop more predictable. Consistency is a major factor in bringing a product to a consumer, especially in a large commercial market like fruit. Farmers are expected to deliver proper size and quality fruit or they could risk loosing their business. By using Aurea technology farmers can not only make their crop more consistent, but also enlarge their yield. Aurea is now expanding their product to Tractor based data collection. Their new TMS system is a drone that is housed on the roof of a tractor that collects data like an in air drone. This is another concept of business that was featured in the presentation, knowing your target market. Aurea recognized that farmers tend to buy equipment they can use themselves rather than services that do the work for them. That is why Aurea developed the TMS system so they could appeal to farmers that want their own equipment. 

To end the day our guide Sophia took us on a tour of Utrecht. I was able to see a beautiful church with a history of protestant/Catholic conflict. The church is displayed in the picture attached to my blog post. Originally a Catholic Church it was turned into a protestant church during the reformation and now stands as a non-denominational place of worship. Our chaperones Frank and Dr. Bursic bought the group ice cream which was delicious.