DataLinker.org - Home of the Farm Data Standards

The specifications on this web site started life as the New Zealand Farm Data Standards, an early effort by the New Zealand (and later, international) agricultural and agritech community to define common vocabularies to define farm data. Over time, the specifications have grown and aligned with other standardisation, specification, and controlled vocabulary projects.

Glossaries and Data Dictionaries

The Farm Data Standards were not approved by any international standards body, so it is better to refer to them as agricultural glossaries or data dictionaries. Originally delivered as PDF files, the glossaries and data dictionaries are now maintained using GitHub and presented as markdown for easy maintenance by the community.

Widespread alignment with the standards will mean that farmers can spend less time entering data for different farm solutions, and more time using the insights from these solutions to make better decisions on their farms.

Glossaries and Data Dictionaries

Common API Specifications

The DataLinker framework was developed as a set of common JSON schemas and API specifications designed to support and encourage API interoperability between agricultural sector businesses, including farm supply companies, processors and retailers, and agritech products. Key elements of the DataLinker specifications include:

The last two elements of this list proved hard for providers to manage, both for legal reasons and limitations in commonly used OAUTH 2 implementations. Much of the DataLinker work has been superseeded but is still available:

Geospatial Data Schemas

Animal Data Exchange