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Precision Palliates Pain Points

Precision Palliates Pain Points


The adoption of precision-agriculture technologies is tied to how well those technologies eliminate farmer pain points. And those technologies must first overcome farmer skepticism. That skepticism is addressed through demonstration of real or perceived value, says Randy Taylor, an Oklahoma State University-Extension agricultural engineer.

Auto-steer and global-positioning-system guidance systems apparently have demonstrated their value as evidenced by their adoption rate in the past two decades. Those technologies are currently used on more than 50 percent of U.S. land planted to corn, soybeans, winter wheat and other crops, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service. In the early 2000s the technologies were used on only about 10 percent of U.S. farmland.

Auto-steer and guidance systems are used to visualize and track the position of tractors and other farm equipment. They help reduce instances where farmers may miss parts of their fields when planting. They also can help prevent overlapping of spray applications, which can help reduce input costs.

The technologies are primarily used on larger farms where costs can be spread across more acres. But Taylor predicts more farmers will begin using auto-steer on smaller acreages because of improved accuracy as well as ergonomic reasons.

“With auto-steer farmers don’t have to focus on steering all of the time,” he said.

Tim Maloney is the owner of Agri-Tech Consulting, a research agronomy company near Whitewater, Wisconsin. He also farms more than 900 acres.

“We have guidance on our tillage tractors and our combines,” he said. “It has allowed us to plant more efficiently. We can plant straighter, have less fatigue and run equipment in the dark as well as when we’re in the daylight. With both tillage and harvesting there are efficiencies of reducing overlap and making fewer trips through the field.”

Global-positioning systems also are beginning to be considered for pasture management, Taylor said. Oklahoma State University researchers have been studying the grazing patterns of cattle fitted with global-positioning-system-enabled collars. Such collars could help producers manage grazing via virtual fencing.

 

Source: agupdate.com

Photo Credit: istock-ekkasit919

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