LoRaWAN Connects Remote Farms from Sensors to Satellite Backhaul

The LoRa Alliance identifies LoRaWAN as a practical connectivity layer for agriculture where power and terrestrial networks are limited. Deployments in crop production, irrigation and livestock tracking show how LPWAN infrastructure can connect distributed assets over large areas.

Connectivity for Agricultural Environments Beyond Network Coverage

Agricultural IoT deployments frequently need to cover wide fields, roaming livestock and remote infrastructure where mains power and reliable network coverage are unavailable. The LoRa Alliance cites long range, low power consumption and operation in unlicensed spectrum as key characteristics for agricultural deployments.

“LoRaWAN is winning in the Smart Agriculture market for one simple reason: it reaches where farming actually happens,” said Alper Yegin, CEO of the LoRa Alliance. “As the LPWAN technology with the highest accessibility, most robust ecosystem support, and widest global adoption, it can connect to a remote field, a moving herd, or an entire estate and address unique applications without the cost and complexity of cellular, Wi-Fi or Bluetooth.”

A LoRaWAN gateway can cover large field and pasture areas, while battery-powered or solar-powered sensors and tags can operate for years.

This enables farms to deploy private networks in remote locations without depending on cellular connectivity, Wi-Fi infrastructure or individual device data plans.

Satellite-connected LoRaWAN can provide an additional backhaul option where terrestrial coverage ends.

For system integrators and solution providers, the architecture supports gradual expansion. A site can begin with one monitoring application and subsequently integrate further sensors, control functions and asset-tracking use cases on the same wireless network.

Four Deployments, Four Different Agricultural Tasks

In Ghana and Brazil, the Banalytics project, supported by Lacuna Space, uses satellite-connected LoRaWAN sensors to support early detection of Black Sigatoka in banana cultivation. Around ten plants per hectare are instrumented to capture temperature and humidity, while soil-nutrient sensors are deployed on a 50-metre grid. AI imaging is used to identify early signs of disease before symptoms spread more widely.

In Australia, MooField uses solar-powered GPS ear tags weighing less than 30 grams to track cattle across open grazing land. The deployment is based on RAKwireless LoRaWAN gateways, solar batteries and remote management. The company is also evaluating satellite backhaul to extend coverage across larger roaming areas.

MIE Agro Farm installed more than 20 Seeed Studio LoRaWAN soil sensors across 6,000 durian trees on an estate exceeding 80 hectares in Malaysia. Soil and environmental data replaced manual inspections that previously required around two hours per day, while creating a data baseline for durian cultivation.

In Bulgaria, Loren Networks deployed TELTELIC KIWI sensors for a large watermelon and cabbage producer. The devices measure soil moisture, temperature, humidity and light, enabling irrigation to be adjusted according to local field conditions. The sensors are specified with a battery life of up to ten years.

One Network for Monitoring, Control and Asset Protection

The LoRa Alliance also identifies soil and nutrient monitoring, precision irrigation, valve control, weather stations, frost alerts and greenhouse climate control as potential applications for LoRaWAN in agriculture.

The same network can connect reservoirs, tanks, troughs, pumps and flow meters, as well as support livestock-health monitoring, grain-silo and cold-store monitoring, fuel-level monitoring, and equipment or gate security.

According to the alliance, more than 650 LoRaWAN Certified devices are available from over 334 member companies. More than 125 million LoRaWAN devices were connected globally at the end of 2025. For agricultural operators, a broad device ecosystem can support the addition of new use cases without requiring separate connectivity infrastructure for each application.

Read the full LoRa Alliance release for the deployment details and Smart Agriculture perspective: https://lora-alliance.org/lora-alliance-press-release/from-remote-pastures-to-satellite-connected-fields-why-lorawan-is-essential-for-smart-agriculture/