How Precision Agriculture is Changing the Farming Industry

To the average eye, crop fields look very simple and low tech: aligned rows of plants, a few tractors, and some farmers to work the land. But the methods and systems used to control these fields happen to be much more complex and thought out than one would expect. For farmers, the months leading up to harvest time is the most crucial time period of their practice. Farmers mainly farm their crops based on predictions and past harvesting experiences. Problems develop due to various unpredictable factors that come into play while preparing the land, such as soil conditions, weather, and pest damage. For these reasons, many farmers have begun to turn to a new practice that is known as precision agriculture. Precision agriculture is the future of farming, it is the use of technology to micromanage fields while coping with the variables that endanger their crops. These farmers use technologically advanced systems ranging from digital yield monitors to global positioning system (GPS) devices that connect information about soil properties, weather conditions, and pest control to specific points on a map. By empowering the farmer to accurately manage his or her fields, precision agriculture will grow more food using fewer resources than ever.

Efficiency and productivity are the main goals of farming. Before the tractor was invented it took nearly 40 hours to plant and harvest about 100 bushels of corn. Today the same amount of corn will take around 3 hours at a maximum. The invention of the tractor altered societies all over the globe by allowing a majority of the workforce to move to cities and specialize in careers outside of agriculture. The mass amount of farmers are no longer needed; minimizing the 41 percent of the U.S. workforce who were employed in agriculture in 1900 down to a low 1.9 percent in 2000. Now farming will inevitably experience another revolution in response to another technological advancement: computers.

Economist and Futurist Steven Goldberg gives his insight on how Precision Agriculture changes the farming industry:

The theory of precision agriculture was first seen in the United States in the 1980’s. Researchers in the University of Minnesota experimented with lime inputs in their crop fields to keep the pH levels of the soil at the high, healthy level. This was around the same time that the practice of grid sampling emerged, which was the technique used to discover the first inputs of developing maps for fertilizers and pH corrections. Yield sensors and GPS receivers have continuously been advancing in technology ever since. This technique is used nationwide, from the mass agricultural farmers to the mainstream locals. All types of farmers are trying to maximize their profits by using minimal resources in areas that are found to be in need fertilizers and specific chemical treatments. This technique allows the farmer to adjust the fertilizers rate across the crops based on the need for more fertilizer, which is identified by the GPS guided grid or through zone sampling. Fertilizer that would have been wasted in unneeded areas will now be placed in areas that are in need, thereby saving money and maximizing efficiency. Precision farming is beginning to create a continuous global growth in farming efficiency.

Crop fields are usually massive pieces of land that stretch for miles and need numerous staff members to keep it running somewhat efficiently. Even the slightest inefficiency in a farming operation can increase the costs and amount of resources used in the process of farming the land. If a tractor were to be driven just a few inches off track, it would waste not only seeds by seeding those unwanted few inches, but also all the resources that go along with growing those seeds. Additional resources being used need to be taken into consideration as well, such as water, fertilizer, pesticides, and herbicides.

Computers to the rescue. Advances in technology allow GPS to deal with all the minute details of farming while significantly cutting down the chances of human error. Instead of a farmer having to deal with specific guideposts and map points, precision agriculture brings us tractors that communicate and are guided by satellite. There is almost no need for human labor on crop fields anymore since this new line of tractors drive themselves. The GPS is connected to a control system that drives the tractor, so all the farmer has to do is sit along for the ride and make sure there are no technological difficulties. According to an AGWEEK news article, farmers who have made the switch to GPS tractors have experienced an increase in profit and a decrease in costs and stresses that come along with their jobs.

Besides for technological advances, precision agriculture brings advancements to the methods and thinking process of how a farmer works his or her land. In past years, a crop field was treated as a singular unit: if it were time to treat the land, the entire land would be treated. In reality, not every part of the land needs the same amount of water, herbicides, and pesticides. This new movement of farming brings us variable rate technologies that regulate the amount of water and chemicals distributed to the crops according to the needs of that specific region. In the past it was almost impossible to distinguish the sub regions of the field that needed more or less water or chemicals by simply observing the land.  Nowadays, crop fields are much larger and cannot be treated with simple hands-on-evaluations. Farmers are in need of more advanced technologies that can cover thousands of acres of land. In order for farmers to uphold profitable crop fields, they must gather and record a tremendous amount of information. This is where remote sensing comes into play.

Remote sensing is the ultimate information gathering system for a farmer today. This system can gather information in a speedy and ample fashion. Images taken from either satellites or aircrafts are referred back to the farmer’s monitor in multi- spectral quality: providing the farmer with a wide range of information in respect to their fields. These images can reveal comparative levels of specific chemicals, such as clay, calcium, and silt in the soil. This information allows the farmer to determine the appropriate amount of water and chemicals that need to be applied in that region by plugging in data into a computer that calculates the amount of resources needed. After the computer processes these calculations, automated sprayers modify their functions as the GPS tractor moves across the field, alleviating complex and difficult decisions the farmer would have to make.

A University of Maryland Communications major speaks on precision agriculture:

Many argue that remote sensing data is too expensive and sporadic.  For this reason, many farmers gather and work together in order to afford the costly equipment, which can span over numerous farms. Another problem is the fact that without remote sensing, these fields would be scanned daily as opposed to aircraft or satellite data being offered only once every few days. In response to this inconvenience, agricultural companies created a sensing system to attach to the tractor that will read the field through satellite reception as the tractor moves.

The main advantage of precision agriculture is clearly the increase in profitable margins. A farmer, who can afford to adopt the equipment, will on average save 6 dollars per acre. In 2009, precision agriculture technologies saved Alabama farmers over 10 million dollars. This benefits the environment as well. By only treating sites that are in need of chemicals, levels of pollution and runoff experience major decreases. Through the use of advanced GPS tractors, computer software, and remote sensing imagery, mass food farming is going to experience greater efficiency and use of fewer resources. These benefits will help fight world starvation while helping nations’ economies boom, specifically in the agriculture department. A century ago, the tractor changed the structure of our society and the way and rate we received our produce. We have now hit another turning point in the agricultural industry with the use of advanced computers and imagery. According to Heritage High School agriculture teacher, Mike Shirey, “agriculture is something that is constantly changing.” Who knows what the world will experience in the next few decades and how it will once again change the way we live, eat, and think.