Soil maps, GPS guidance, and even drones are becoming critical tools for modern farmers. These methods of precision agriculture can help increase yields and efficiency—and save farmers a surprising sum along the way.
Technology
Advanced Data
Farmers make many important decisions each day. By collecting data and having more information, these decisions will be easier and more precise. In the future, sensors and robots will collect more information on pests and weather, and make recommendations on important farming decisions. These are called data-driven decisions.
Drones can be used to apply pesticides very accurately to a field. The drones have sensors to apply more or less in different sections of the crop, based on what its needs are.
Precision Agriculture
Crop farming systems use fertilizers and pesticides to grow their crops. In today’s farming, often the fertilizers and pesticides are applied to the entire field, including areas that don’t need it or don’t need as much. In the future, Precision Agriculture will be used more.
Precision Agriculture uses technology such as GPS, sensors, drones, soil sampling, and specialized machinery to apply the pesticide or fertilizer very specifically. This combination of technology can help when applying pesticide or fertilizer to the crop in the exact place, at the exact time, with exactly how much the plant needs! This will reduce the amount of fertilizer and pesticide used which saves farmers money and increases environmental sustainability.
This is a variable rate map made by the drone. The red areas indicate that more fertilizer or pesticide is needed, while the green area doesn’t need further inputs, and the yellow areas need a medium amount.
Watch what happens when farming goes high-tech!
Today, a farmer or agronomist has to go out to each field to find out if there is any pest damage. But often a pest isn’t detected until after it starts to damage a crop. Imagine a field that is monitored 24/7 and can detect a pest or disease before a human eye can see it! Sensors are being developed that can be the ‘eyes’ on the fields. These sensors can be used in drones.
Currently, a farmer checks each crop to check for damage, but drones will be able to find damage before the human eye can see it!
In the future, drones will use their sensors to be the ‘eyes’ on the field.
Robots
Artificial intelligence is the ability of machines to learn after doing something and adjusting to new information. Crop monitoring robots equipped with artificial intelligence can learn to tell the difference between plants and weeds, apply herbicides, pull weeds, or identify a harmful insect and apply a micro-dose, which is a very small amount of the correct insecticide.
Crop monitoring robots have begun to be developed.
There is a shortage of people that have the correct skills to work on farms. How can we solve this problem? Technology! Autonomous, or self-driving seeders, combines, and sprayers don’t need to have a driver. They are programmed by the farmer to travel within a certain area and use GPS and sensors to stay within the field lines. Another added bonus is that this driverless equipment doesn’t need to eat or sleep and can work many hours, days, or weeks at a time, as long as it doesn’t need maintenance or repair. This means more time, sleep, and healthier living for the farmer!
Self-driving machinery is the way of the future for farm equipment!
Self-driving farm equipment requires fewer workers on farms, which will save time and money for farmers.
Meet Dot, who is a revolution in farming technology.