February 2019 - 32

IRRIGATION & WATER MANAGEMENT
Clemson alumnus wins $10,000 for farm efficiency app
By Denise Attaway
Clemson University
The knowledge Spencer McLeod
acquired during his years at Clemson
University and experience he gained
working on his family's farm in
McBee sparked him to create a mobile
app he hopes will soon help increase
farm efficiency.
The app, AgriLinx, was built to
help farmers keep track of activities
on their farms. It earned McLeod
the $10,000 top prize in Clemson
University's Fifth Annual Pitch
Smackdown hosted by the Arthur M.
Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial
Leadership in early November.
" Profitability in the agriculture
industry is being driven more and
more by efficiency, " McLeod said.
" Ultimately, AgriLinx focuses on
making operations efficient. "
McLeod graduated from Clemson
with a bachelor's degree in agricultural
mechanization and business in 2012,
and a master's degree in business
administration in 2014. After completing
his degrees, McLeod returned to work
on his family's 7,500-acre farm. He
began working on the AgriLinx app
in April 2017 and started testing the
system in May of 2017. Currently,
the app allows users to view and
control irrigation management, track
equipment and track labor.
The system includes a LoRa network,
or long-range, low-power wireless
technology, that collects data from remote
devices called nodes. These nodes have
Global Positioning System capabilities
and can connect to a new cellular
technology from Verizon called LTE Cat
M1. The nodes can be placed strategically
around a farmer's field to collect and
Clemson University College of Agriculture, Forestry and Life Sciences (CAFLS) alumnus Spencer McLeod of McBee won Clemson's Fifth
Annual Pitch Smackdown with an app he created to help farmers track activities on their farms. Photo: Clemson University
store data for irrigation management,
equipment tracking and labor tracking,
allowing farmers to make more informed
operational decisions.
McLeod hopes the app will help
farmers determine the best times irrigate
their crops. By using precision irrigation,
over-irrigation is reduced and yields are
increased because water is applied only
when needed. The AgriLinx platform
exists in the cloud where the data is
stored. This system could be available to a
small number of farms in early 2019.
McLeod said the education and
experiences he gained while at Clemson
proved valuable in helping him develop
Agrilinx and win the Pitch Smackdown.
" The network of people that I was able
to develop and continue to develop at
Clemson has been an immense resource
to drive this venture, " McLeod said.
" My undergraduate studies gave me the
problem-solving and analytical skills to
develop the idea and work through the
technical obstacles. The MBA program
allowed me to form this unique idea into
a viable business model. "
Matthew Klein, a lecturer for the
Clemson MBA program and a judge for
the Smackdown, said it was a compilation
of several things that drove McLeod to
win this year's competition. Klein taught
McLeod while he was a student in the
master's degree program.
" Spencer grew up on a farm so
he knows the industry, " Klein said.
" What set his project apart was that he
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installed this system on his own farm
and was able to show how his farm
benefitted from having this system. His
system also was attractive because all
users have to do is 'plug and play.' Users
can keep their data. They don't have
to worry about proprietary claims and
things such as that. "
McLeod plans to use the money he won
from the 2018 Pitch Smackdown to finalize
development and purchase inventory.
The Clemson Pitch Smackdown is held
annually for Clemson students, faculty
and alumni. Individuals, as well as teams
register for an opportunity to pitch their
ideas. These ideas can be anything from a
concept to a fully developed product. The
2018 Pitch Smackdown drew more than
40 entries of which 20 entrepreneurs were
selected to pitch their start-ups with hopes
of winning some of the more than $30,000
in cash prizes. Those competing in the final
round were required to conduct a 4-minute
presentation, followed by a six-minute
question and answer session. The estimated
time of completion for each entry was three
to five minutes. Other winners of the 2018
Clemson Pitch Smackdown can be found at
www.clemson.edu.
The Spiro Institute for Entrepreneurial
Leadership is a Clemson University
program that supports academic research
and service programs involving students
and faculty from all colleges on campus.
Spiro IFEL extends the work of the
university to the community through
project-based activities with inventors,
entrepreneurs, and established companies
representing an entrepreneurial spirit on
the Clemson University campus. VGN
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February 2019

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