Agriculture becomes more high-tech
As time marches on, more and more farmers are turning toward new methods to manage their fields more effectively.
Instead of just looking at their crops from the road, farmers are looking down upon their crops with the assistance of satellites.
The new trend in agriculture of using satellites as tools to help farmers improve their management practices has become known as PrecisionAg.
Dennis Wright, a Utah State University graduate, said agricultural technology is something everyone should know about.
The average person should care about precision agriculture for the same reason they should care about politics and corporate integrity,” he said. “It may not affect their quality of life today, but the boost to the economy from agronomic efficiency and the reduction of environmental contamination will certainly have implications for the future.”
PrecisionAg technologies mainly use GPS (Global Positioning System) and satellite imagery in farming applications.
Bruce Miller, agriculture professor, said, “GPS is a satellite-based navigation system.”
GPS uses about 24 satellites that revolve around Earth, about 10,900 miles above its surface. Each satellite sends and receives a radio signal that includes the range and time of the satellite in its orbit. A GPS receiver on Earth can analyze the information and accurately determine its location using basic geometry. A GPS receiver is then connected to other systems to give their exact locations.
Miller said PrecisionAg was introduced in the early 1990s, when airplane chemical applicators, crop dusters, were unsafe while spraying fields. Pilots needed a way to replace human flag holders, who were used to help them fly straight, he said.
The idea of connecting a GPS guidance system to the airplane was introduced and resulted in a safer, more accurate method of spraying crops, Miller said.
Since then, farmers have looked for other ways to apply GPS to farming practices. One of the ways they have succeeded is by connecting GPS guidance systems to tractors. Companies are developing guidance systems for tractors so farmers can plant near-perfect, straight rows, Miller said.
To most people, the thought of connecting satellites to tractors may seem a bit far-fetched, but as time is starting to tell, the idea is becoming an everyday reality to farmers all across the globe, he said.
Kyler Ovard, a sophomore studying social work, said, “Satellites in farming — sounds good to me.”
Phil Rasmussen, coordinator for the Western Regional Sustainable Ag Program, said farmers who are using PrecisionAg products also might have a hand-held computer that is connected to a GPS system. This allows the farmer to see data about his field. The data might include a soil map, which charts chemical levels, or maybe the latest satellite image of his field.
Steve Theurer, a sophomore studying civil engineering, said he didn’t know the full extent of agricultural technology.
“I knew that farming was starting to incorporate computers but I didn’t know how,” he said.
Rasmussen said, “I think farmers and ranchers will be using hand-held computers in the field, not only to look at satellite information in the field but also as a reference tool to make notes about problems they see or practices they have done.”
The use of PrecisionAg products in chemical application has enormous benefits, Rasmussen said. The chemical sprayers can use soil maps of the field connected with the sprayer’s GPS system to spray the exact amount necessary. This saves the farmer in chemical costs and is better for the environment, because the unnecessary amounts are never applied, he said.
Ron Campbell, CEO of Juniper Systems, said another application of the GPS system is the use of yield maps to manage fields. After a field is harvested, a farmer can look at the yield map and see the high or low spots in his field. Then he can use this data to help him manage more effectively, he said.
Miller said to create a yield map, the harvesting equipment is connected to a GPS system. The data collected is then sent to a yield monitor. This information is stored in a geographic information system (GIS) — a set of data linked to geographic information about a field.
Campbell said Juniper Systems has its headquarters in Logan and got its start in the yield monitor market by producing yield monitors for potatoes. Now the company produces yield monitors for various crops for farmers all around the world.
A farm operation is just like a business, Campbell said.
“In order to optimize your operation, you need to make measurements,” he said. “The whole idea is to measure and then manage from those measurements.”
By using data collected from PrecisionAg systems, farmers can reduce inputs and increase profits, according to the 2003 PrecisionAg Buyer’s Guide.
Miller said PrecisionAg products are costly and the price tag is the principal impediment farmers have to adapt to this new technology.
USU is also involved in developing PrecisionAg technology. In 1999, USU teamed up with NASA to study images collected from satellites. The university has conducted studies using satellite imagery to detect nitrogen and water stress in wheat.
Rasmussen led these studies. Last year, he used a satellite image to detect a problem with a farmer’s irrigation system. The problem was corrected, keeping the farmer from losing yield and saving him thousands of dollars, he said.
Rasmussen said USU’s goal is to make the cost of these services more useful, available and affordable to farmers.
Campbell said PrecisionAg products are giving farmers an edge they have never had before.
Miller said although the application of satellites to farming practices has only existed for a little over a decade, its impact on agriculture will be felt for centuries to come.
–jonathang@cc.usu.edu