Precision Pays

Always good to see high technology magazines talk about precision agriculture that’s happening down on the farm. My favorite hi-tech pub, Wired, just posted a nice story on their website: “Self-Steered Tractors and UAVs: Future Farming Is (Finally) Now.” A lot of the story was based on Idaho grower Robert Blair, who was named PrecisionAg’s 2009 Precision Farmer of the Year.

It talks about the rapid adoption of auto steer due to payback, the big generational shift going on, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to survey crops, yield monitors and maps, variable-rate applications and much more.

It also mentions environmental challenges and talks some about sustainability, handling those topics in a fair manner.

Read it, and pass it along to your town and city friends. The more educating we do with the general public, the better!

Top technology innovation awards were recently announced by an expert commission of the German Agricultural Society that organizes the largest international farm show, Agritechnica. Of the 300 innovations submitted, the committee selected five Gold Medals and 28 innovations for Silver Medals.

Gold Medal winners include forage harvesting auto fill from Claas and New Holland, a Claas interactive combine-setting assistant for different crops and harvest conditions, the world’s first cross-manufacturer (German companies) concepts for ISOBUS-compatible ag machinery to develop a terminal that is similar across machinery brands, and the John Deere Steer-by-Wire steering system that intervenes to improve driving safety and comfort.

Check out all the Gold and Silver Medal winners. This equipment will be on display during the Agritechnica show, November 10-14 in Hanover, Germany. Approximately 2,200 exhibitors from 45 countries will present their products at the show.

Check out this video from a field robot event at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, courtesy of Epoch Times online.

“We can reduce the amount of chemicals we use by the very precise application and by doing so, we will also reduce emissions and residuals of chemicals on food.”

Putting theory into practice, students and engineers held a Field Robot Event at the Wageningen University campus last month.
They tested small, driveable machines averaging between 50 to 80 centimeters in width and no more than 40 centimeters in height. Cameras, sonar, infrared and GPS sensors helped the machines steer in the right direction

The robots can distinguish between good and bad plants. They are designed to direct a detergent spray on weeds with such high precision that they avoid touching the crop itself.

The Field Robot Event tested the tiny machines’ ability to navigate and detect weeds.

[Professor Eldert Van Henten, Wageningen University]:
“What we see is that currently tractors are already using auto-steering and GPS so in a way we are supporting human labor with technology. The next step might be that the farmer is supervising one or two additional tractors, still having supervision and then further future might be that robots are truly autonomous on the field.”

Popular Science magazine did a nice job providing readers with a glimpse into the precision agriculture research that is needed to grow twice as much food by 2050. The writer talked about how this challenge is everyone’s problem, but scientists are hard at work fomenting a second green revolution.

Here are the research projects that the magazine chose:
1. Sahara Forest Project — Greenhouses using seawater and solar power to grow cash crops in the desert.
2. Soil sensors — Research at Iowa State University into wireless soil sensors that may help farmers use water, fertilizer and other inputs more efficiently.
3. Improved rice — Researchers hope to turn this staple crop into a super rice that grows faster in warmer and drier climates by transforming its photosynthesis process.
4. Replace fertilizer — Michigan State researchers attempt to replace/reduce commercial fertilizer use with microbes. They are currently field testing microbial cocktails (Bio-Soil Enhancers) that can simultaneously reduce the need for phosphorous and nitrogen, protect plants against pathogens and boost yields in virtually any type of crop.
5. HarvestChoice — The Gates Foundation is funding data compilation of Africa’s agricultural systems and land use to increase yields to feed the growing continent.
6. Satellite soil moisture — NASA and USDA are working to monitor soil moisture levels around the globe to hopefully improve crop forecasting.
7. Robot labor — The challenge of American specialty crop growers finding human labor is increasing difficult. Current research using robots with a variety of sensors will help machines scan for fungus, growth rate, soil moisture, humidity, light levels and more. But cost of such technology is the current challenge.
8. Rebuilding soil — Scientists hope to turn waste into a charcoal that, when applied to degraded unproductive soil, will attract microorganisms to help plants access nutrients, hold more water and lock in carbon. Companies are working on portable machines to produce biochar on-site.
9. Make supercrops — Research is bioenginering the African staple crop cassava root to turn it into the PowerBar of the vegetable world. They’re attempting to increase protein, add vitamins, increase shelf life, add virus resistance and eliminate cyanide-producing toxins in the root.

USDA’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) just released new satellite images of agricultural land cover for the 2008 crop year.

The images, referred to as the Cropland Data Layer (CDL), identify geospatial crop locations in three U.S. regions: the Mid-Atlantic and, for the first time, the Southwest and Southeast.

The CDL information is a useful tool for projects ranging from monitoring crop rotational patterns, land use change and environmental modeling, to water resource and carbon emission management. Agribusinesses and farmers, as well as government, researchers and academic institutions, use the CDLs to study pesticide risk, epidemiology, transportation, fertilizer usage and potential, market data analysis and carbon dioxide fluxes.

The Mid-Atlantic region is the largest CDL and covers Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. The Southwest region CDL includes Arizona, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming, while the Southeast region CDL is comprised of Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina and Tennessee.

NASS produced the CDLs using satellite images observed at 56 meter (0.775 acre) resolution and collected from the Resourcesat-1 Advanced Wide Field Sensor (AWiFS), Landsat Thematic Mapper and Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS). The collection of images was then categorized using on-the-ground information including field location, crop type, land cover, elevation, tree canopy and urban infrastructure.

The entire inventory of CDL products, including metadata and accuracy assessments, is available online at the USDA National Resource Conservation Service’s Geospatial Data Gateway and the NASS Website.

News network CNN talked a little precision farming last week during an interview with western Nebraska farmer Steve Tucker. But the interview focused on what Steve does with his time when his auto steering takes the wheel — he keeps up with friends using Twitter on his smartphone.

Nebraska Corn Kernels blog features a good post on the coverage, with links to the video and story.

He made many good points about farming and agriculture – and noted that many folks don’t know where their food comes from and Twitter and other social media tools are a great way to reach out and tell that story.

Plus, the technology gives him a way to have conversations all day long – with friends thousands of miles away. He also noted that farmers are doing a lot more today with less.

Since his story appeared on CNN, Tucker’s ‘followers’ on Twitter grew from about 470 to 830 – and it’s still growing. (The nearest town has a population of less than 200!)

“Technology has reduced the amount of herbicides and pesticides needed, requiring less energy per bushel produced, thus reducing our carbon footprint.”

That was one of many precision farming efficiency messages delivered by Rob Korff last week at a United Nations food security meeting. Korff, Missouri family farmer and chairman of the National Corn Growers Association Biotechnology Working Group, explained how technology has made corn production more efficient and stabilized yields.

Advances in GPS, and precision agriculture also minimize overlap and over application of inputs, fertilizers and chemicals, reduces fuel usage and saves time.  These practices have helped us produce a more secure, abundant, affordable rood supply with less impact on the environment.

In fact, if you view trend line yield increases since biotechnology has been more widely implemented, you will notice famers have reduced the energy and inputs used in production.  Additionally, only 13 percent of our corn is irrigated and farming practices such as no and minimal till save large amounts of water and soil.  The U.S. relies on rain water for 87 percent of our corn production.  Long term trend lines also project harvesting at 10.74 tons/hectare by 2020 while the 12 year trend line projects 11.5 tons/hectare by 2020 – an increase of 24 million metric tons per year tied to yield enhancing biotech traits.

According to the National Center for Food and Agriculture Policy, the use of biotechnology reduced the use of pesticides by 110 million pounds in 2006.

By utilizing these advancements in technology, farmers are able to meet the growing demands of not just the U.S. but the world.  Despite adverse weather conditions last year, the U.S. had a 1.6 billion bushel carryout with ample supply for food, feed and fuel.

I believe biotech has been fully tested and is safe for consumption.  It is allowing farmers to produce a more secure, abundant and affordable food supply.

As education and awareness spread, technology, and more specifically, biotechnology will be the answer to feeding our rapidly expanding world population.

High returns: Collector T. Soundiah inspecting a field of brinjal, raised under precision farming at Mangalam in Tiruchi district. Photo by M. Moorthy, courtesy of The Hindu

Part of India’s National Agriculture Development Program (NADP) promotes a precision farming technique that is gaining popularity, according to a recent story in India’s national newspaper, The Hindu.

Over the past two years, precision farming techniques have been promoted in 900 hectares across the district in various crops including sugarcane, maize, brinjal, tomato, onion, tapioca, sunflower and groundnut.

With installation of drip irrigation system and fertigation (for application of soluble fertilizers) units being essential requirements, farmers could avail a 50 per cent subsidy for the equipment. A farmer could avail a maximum subsidy of Rs.65,000 a hectare, including the cent per cent subsidy of Rs.25,000 for soluble fertilizer, said Collector T. Soundiah, after inspecting some of the precision farming fields in the district on Tuesday.

The higher yield achieved through the drip irrigation systems and fertigation, under which the soluble fertilizer was applied through the drip irrigation system, has been an attraction for farmers.

“This is the first time we have taken up cultivation of brinjal and the results has been encouraging so far,” said A. Ramasamy, who along with his brother A. Easwaran, has raised the vegetable in two acres at Mangalam village in the drought-prone Thathaiyengarpet union. Mr. Ramasamy, who has grown two different hybrid varieties, even takes the longer variety to the Salem Uzhavar Sandhai where such brinjals find a better market.

A cluster-based approach was also being promoted under the scheme, so that small farmers in villages could come together to avail the subsidy given under the NADP in clusters of 20 hectares each. Farmers could achieve up to 50 per cent increase in yield by adopting precision farming techniques, according to S. Robert Vincent, Deputy Director of Horticulture.

Responding to the request of some farmers, Mr. Soundiah said the district administration would take steps to get subsidy for installing solar-powered fences around their fields. Farmers could come forward to avail the subsidy for purchase of refrigerated vehicles, under the National Horticulture Mission, for transporting their produce, he said.

The benefits of precision farming to help capture carbon in farm fields is receiving press within the current debate of the Waxman-Markey American Clean Energy & Security Act, a.k.a. (HR2454).

While controversy surrounds this bill on several fronts–from lack of offset inclusion for agriculture to larger energy costs being pushed back to consumers–North Dakota farmer and National Farmers Union (NFU) president sees farmer benefits in cap and trade.

In a recent Wichita Eagle story, Johnson thinks farmers should be allowed to sell greenhouse-gas offsets to help pay for input costs that he says will be driven up by proposed climate change legislation.

We want farmers to have an income opportunity out of cap and trade,” said Johnson, whose group has approximately 250,000 members nationally, including about 7,500 in Kansas.

Johnson said farmers will need the additional income because more emission control devices will cause fuel and fertilizer prices to increase, which will push up ag input costs.

But Johnson is concerned about the Waxman-Markey bill, climate change legislation under review by House committees that would establish this country’s first mandatory cap-and-trade regulations.

As the bill stands now, there is no provision for agriculture to sell offsets.

He said it’s important that the U.S. Department of Agriculture — and not the Environmental Protection Agency — regulate ag offsets because the USDA has done the most scientific research on ag greenhouse emissions.

As proposed in the bill, companies that emit more than 25,000 tons of greenhouse gases per year would fall under cap-and-trade regulations. Very large manufacturers and energy companies most often fall into that category.

Johnson said it has been estimated that 30 to 50 percent of the nation’s economy will come from industries that will fall under the cap regulations.

With perhaps the exception of about 30 very large feedlots, agriculture is not part of that group, said Chuck Rice, a Kansas State University soil microbiologist and an expert on cap and trade.

This fall, a new line of precision application and planter section control will be offered on the Canadian Seed Hawk line of seeders, controlled by Raven’s Viper Pro, thanks to a collaboration by the two companies.

The first of these solutions combines fertilizer and seed section control from Raven with patent-pending seeder technology from Seed Hawk. Known as Sectional Control Technology(TM), this system will virtually eliminate costly seed and fertilizer overlaps automatically for the customer.

“By working together, our two companies can provide seeding solutions faster and more effectively,” says Pat Beaujot, President of Seed Hawk. “We can take advantage of expertise and existing products from both companies and offer better products that deliver significant value to our customers.”

Matt Burkhart, General Manager of Applied Technology Division at Raven Industries, adds, “This new collaboration further demonstrates Raven’s commitment to expand its product line into seeding and planting applications.”

This system will be offered through Seed Hawk dealers starting this fall, and both companies plan to offer more solutions in the future. “With a good working agreement in place, our companies can share ideas freely, which will lead to faster solutions,” Beaujot explains.

The PrecisionAg Institute, formed and managed by CropLife Media Group, just announced their 2009 precision agriculture awards that include a top farmer, crop advisor, educator and legacy award winners.

Farmer of the year is Robert Blair, who is not your typical dryland Idaho farmer. While his passions rank family and farming first, he is also staunchly dedicated to promoting precision ag for the betterment of all farmers.

In addition to farming 1,500 acres of wheat, peas, lentils, garbanzos, alfalfa and cows, he taught the precision ag lab at the University of Idaho during the 2008 fall semester and has also started a precision ag business called PineCreek Precision. The company is centered on Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) – small, autopilot-controlled planes (less than 20 pounds) that can be used to gather imagery. Blair, the first farmer in the United States to own and fly a UAS on his own farmland, decided to make a prototype airframe in 2008. Today he is a national leader in the promotion of UAS for agriculture, and is the first person in the U.S. to file a petition to the FAA for commercial use. Not even Boeing, Lockheed, or other aircraft businesses or organizations had done that. He has traveled on his own dime to Washington, D.C. to try to make commercial UAS rules that are sensible for end users. He has spoken around the country at different venues on UAS use in ag.

Robert is a board member of the Idaho Grain Producers Association, Lewiston Chamber Ag Committee, U of I/WSU Legume Virus Project, Idaho Farm Bureau LASR Committee, Nez Perce County Farm Bureau President, CEO Coalition on Transportation member, Governor Otter’s Kitchen Cabinet (Advisory Group), IGPA Alliance for Rail Competition National Representative, and taught the precision ag lab at the University of Idaho.

He is helping the University of Idaho to expand its precision ag program and is also promoting agriculture by doing TV interviews for a new farm program in our area. His leadership and ability to bring things together are excellent and promotion of ag and precision ag is at the front of everything he does.

Robert hosts a precision ag field day each year and 2009 will be the third. His on-farm experiments with fertilizer, varieties, and different equipment has opened the eyes of many farmers in the area to the benefits of precision ag. Besides the economic benefits, he emphasizes the environmental stewardship aspects precision ag brings. He touts the benefits of precision ag records for proving environmentally safe tillage, application, and record keeping.

Check out the other recipients of 2009 PrecisionAg Awards of Excellence.

Trimble expands its precision agriculture solutions offering by acquiring NTech, a leading provider of crop-sensing technology GreenSeeker and WeedSeeker.

NTech products use optical sensing and variable rate application to apply only the inputs needed to maximize crop yield. The GreenSeeker nitrogen application system determines the health of a plant in real time and delivers the optimum amount of nitrogen. The WeedSeeker automatic spot-spray system senses the presence of living plants, allowing targeted and controlled herbicide application.

The systems are typically utilized with Global Positioning System (GPS) solutions and flow and application control products, both of which are supported by Trimble’s precision agricultural portfolio of products.

“Trimble’s focus is to provide complete agriculture solutions – from machine guidance and automated steering to application control. The acquisition of NTech gives Trimble customers even more ways to save on fertilizer and herbicide costs while reducing their impact on the environment,” said Erik Arvesen, vice president and general manager for Trimble’s Agriculture Division. “By applying the right amount of inputs for optimum plant growth, farmers can manage for maximum efficiency and avoid over-applying fertilizer or herbicide.”

“GreenSeeker and WeedSeeker solutions are breakthroughs for variable rate application. Our technology offers farmers innovative solutions to help control fertilizer and crop protection products, which ultimately drive costs,” said Ted Mayfield, NTech’s chief operating officer. “We are excited to join Trimble and believe that our combined technologies will provide farmers with enhanced solutions to more efficiently manage control applications in the field.”

It’s nice to see the general media cover agriculture from a positive technology standpoint. This recent story in the Janesville (Wisc.) Gazette highlights how precision agriculture tools help farmers cut costs. 

Chuck Pope uses global positioning software in the cab of his tractor as a guide as he plants thousands of acres of corn in Walworth, Rock and Jefferson counties in Wisconsin.

The equipment isn’t new, but it’s becoming more common as farmers look for ways to cut costs.

As Pope rounds the corner in a field, a little image of a tractor lines up with a pre-programmed line on a computer monitor in the cab of his John Deere.

He hits a switch and lowers the 90-foot-wide planter. He flips a switch on the back of the steering column, and the tractor takes over, steering itself and following the GPS line up the field.

It’s not a brand new concept to use data tracking software and Global Positioning Systems to maximize crop yields. Pope’s been doing it for 10 years.

Precision planting shaves 2 to 3 percent off Pope’s seed costs. That adds up to savings of $8,000 to $15,000 per year, he said.

If you’ve heard news about potential failure of satellites in the GPS constellation by 2010…the sky is not falling and it’s not time to panic.

Is there concern? Yes. A study just released by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows that the Air Force (which maintains the system) and suppliers have not lived up to their promises of replacing satellites—which have an operational life of about 7.5 years.

If new satellites are not deployed on a more timely basis, there is an increased likelihood that the overall GPS constellation could fall below the number of satellites required (24) for proper function.

What does that mean for agricultural uses? Precision Pays talked to sources at Trimble who stated that there is concern, but it will likely cause only potential degradation of the free WAAS signal.

Trimble expressed confidence in the GPS satellites, and stated they are preparing for the future by incorporating signals from other systems. Their AgGPS 442 receiver (with the new AgGPS FmX Integrated display) can receive signals from the Russian version of the US GPS, known as GLONASS. This system isn’t as developed yet as the US system–currently containing 18 satellites–but it is predicted to increase to 30 satellites by 2011, according to the Russian space agency Roscosmos. While the current 18 satellites are not enough to be an effective system by itself yet (minimum of 24 needed), adding those extra satellites can make a significant difference in uptime for anyone who can reference both the US and Russian systems with one receiver, according to Trimble.

As more countries add their own navigational systems (like the Compass system being developed by the Chinese Aerospace Industry—which Trimble is a 50-50 partner), Trimble predicts there will be a shift in thinking. It will shift from exclusively US GPS to thinking GNSS (global Navigation Satellite System), which includes GPS, GLONASS, Compass and several additional satellite constellations being developed in the EU (Galileo) and Japan (QZSS).

BREAKING NEWS…
If you are a Twitter member, the Air Force (who tweets at AFSpace) conducted a tweet forum Q&A session on this issue yesterday (May 20) and just posted a transcript this morning. Bottom line from the conversation is that the Air Force “has plans to mitigate risk and prevent a gap in coverage,” and it’s very unlikely that a user will notice any difference in GPS accuracy. Currently there are 30+ satellites in orbit, and they plan to launch another in August and one in early 2010. “Going below 24 (satellites) won’t happen,” stated Col. Dave Buckman, AFSPC command lead for Position, Navigation and Timing.

What could happen if the GPS falls below the needed 24 satellites? Check out this piece by GPS World magazine.

Rain delays always impede timely planting in areas of the country every spring. But thanks to precision farming tools like GPS-guided auto steer, farmers like Johnny Verell near Jackson, Tenn. can make up for lost time. 

“It takes a lot of the stress out of planting,” Verell told Monsanto Today. “We can cover more ground and work at night a lot easier because we don’t have to worry about seeing our markers.”

Since GPS-derived agriculture products were introduced in the late-1990’s many farmers have been adopting the technology because of the benefits—improved efficiency, higher yields and better environmental stewardship.

Improved Efficiency

In the past, farmers would have to overlap their rows to prevent missing parts of their field. Now, with GPS-enabled auto-steer, growers don’t have to worry about human error in applications.

“Ten years ago we used a 20-foot planter,” Verell said. “Now we’re using 40-foot planters, farming the same 20-acre fields that we did 10 years ago. We used to have to overlap at least five feet with the 20-foot planter. Now, with the 40-foot planter, we are able to reduce overlap to a matter of inches. That really helps us be more efficient.”

GPS also allows farmers to apply fertilizers at variable rates based on soil test data collected from the fields in previous years. The data is loaded into an onboard computer that maps out the field and automatically drops fertilizer only where it is needed. With this technology, farmers can manage their fields spatially rather than on a whole-field basis.

“Variable-rating is a big cost saver for us,” Verell said. “Since we started variable-rating our fertilizer, we’re saving anywhere from $20 to $30 an acre just on our [potassium and phosphate]. And with nitrogen we just try to level out the field and make everything uniform.”

The technology is also available to allow farmers to fine-tune application rates on seed and chemicals in the same way. “We take a few years of yield data and then write a prescription for each field,” Verell said. “We’ll place higher seed rates where the water holding capacity is higher. Once you start increasing seed in those areas you’ll start pulling out extra bushel per seed. The numbers start adding up really quick. That’s when the technology starts paying for itself.”

Environmental Stewardship

Precision farming has significant impacts well beyond the individual farm. For example, more efficient use of chemicals and fertilizers means less runoff.

“With auto-steer on the sprayer we’re minimizing the amount we’re spraying on our field borders,” Verell said. “The new technology makes it easy for us to keep track of what chemicals we’re spraying. We’re able to see what we sprayed and on what day. If we are ever asked for our records, we can just print it off.”

Check out this story, some planting updates and other pieces on agriculture at Monsanto Today.