Technical Abstract: The original work in modern near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) began in agriculture. NIRS provided the advantages of quickness and noninvasiveness for quantitative analyses. For these same reasons, many non-agricultural industries have adopted NIRS for a plethora of applications. But now, there are additional expectations for rugged, small, portable, more sensitive methods capable of detecting genetic modifications, expressed proteins, adulterants, food-borne pathogens, and others. We will discuss advancements in NIRS and near infrared fluorescence spectroscopy (NIRFS) techniques that will enable crucial agricultural problems to be solved in the future.