Wesley Porter, associate professor and extension precision agriculture and irrigation specialist at the University of Georgia (UGA), says the combined use of drones, satellite imagery, and multispectral imaging is revolutionizing real-time farming. UAVs have improved recently in tangible ways—battery life and the inclusion of flight-planning software, for example—while imaging technology is increasingly able to zero in on fields in ways that provide actionable data sets to farmers.
These tools allow growers to quickly identify and address any in-season issues in their fields. “It seems like more and more people are getting involved in those types of remote sensing technology,” Porter says. “These types of imagery let them monitor crops instead of relying on traditional practices to try to make some determination. That extra layer of data is building confidence that these are things they can work with and benefit from.”
That’s also true in Brazil, where one of the biggest issues farmers face is low soil fertility. Farmers are increasingly turning to precision ag for soil correction and fertilization—specifically, soil-sampling technology mounted on ATVs that can provide them with an exact blueprint for how to maximize a field’s potential. Many growers then deploy satellite or aerial images and active sensors for the normalized difference vegetation index (NVDI), a measure of the state of plant health based on how it reflects light at different frequencies.
Porter’s Georgia colleagues are building and evolving robots that undertake such tasks as weed eradication, spraying, and selective harvesting and termination of crops. “And that’s not just here at UGA,” he says. “Most universities are focusing in some form on robotic operation in the field, whether that’s planting, whether that’s harvest, whether it’s in-season monitoring, et cetera.” One goal is to produce a robot that can execute more than one field operation, which will help justify the cost. That’s a critical issue, as farmers—sensitive to the practicalities of running a business—face hard-nosed calculations about the cost-benefit ratio of new technologies.
Meanwhile, various forms of instrumentation are now central to farm operations, Porter says. Combines outfitted with sensors monitor grain flow and harvest losses, making real-time adjustments to maximize yield. Automated systems plant seeds at precise, optimal depths, and today’s irrigation systems rely on remote sensors that can be monitored and manipulated via smartphone—a far cry from the old days of irrigation, when a loose fitting could leak for days before being discovered.
Better yields, greener planet
The promise of precision ag also extends to the environment. Bruno Basso, a Michigan State University Research Foundation professor who specializes in row-crop production systems, says that some of the most exciting technological advances he’s seen involve regenerative practices—building better soil health.
His research focuses on using technology that identifies and improves performance variability within fields in ways that also help the environment. Using drones, historical-yield field maps, and modeling, Basso’s lab created and distributed 25,000 acres’ worth of prescription maps focused on low-yield or problem fields on farms ranging from North Dakota to Mississippi.
The maps offer specific blueprints for reclaiming unproductive areas, which might mean, for example, planting cover crops to regenerate the soil. The plans both quantify the reduction in emissions that can in turn be sold as carbon credits and suggest ways to increase biodiversity. The Natural Resources Conservation Service then pays farmers $10 an acre to implement the recommendations. Basso says these sorts of turnkey solutions are critical. “You can’t just give farmers more work to do—more homework,” he says.
Wesley Porter, associate professor and extension precision agriculture and irrigation specialist at the University of Georgia (UGA), says the combined use of drones, satellite imagery, and multispectral imaging is revolutionizing real-time farming. UAVs have improved recently in tangible ways—battery life and the inclusion of flight-planning software, for example—while imaging technology is increasingly able to zero in on fields in ways that provide actionable data sets to farmers.
These tools allow growers to quickly identify and address any in-season issues in their fields. “It seems like more and more people are getting involved in those types of remote sensing technology,” Porter says. “These types of imagery let them monitor crops instead of relying on traditional practices to try to make some determination. That extra layer of data is building confidence that these are things they can work with and benefit from.”
That’s also true in Brazil, where one of the biggest issues farmers face is low soil fertility. Farmers are increasingly turning to precision ag for soil correction and fertilization—specifically, soil-sampling technology mounted on ATVs that can provide them with an exact blueprint for how to maximize a field’s potential. Many growers then deploy satellite or aerial images and active sensors for the normalized difference vegetation index (NVDI), a measure of the state of plant health based on how it reflects light at different frequencies.
Porter’s Georgia colleagues are building and evolving robots that undertake such tasks as weed eradication, spraying, and selective harvesting and termination of crops. “And that’s not just here at UGA,” he says. “Most universities are focusing in some form on robotic operation in the field, whether that’s planting, whether that’s harvest, whether it’s in-season monitoring, et cetera.” One goal is to produce a robot that can execute more than one field operation, which will help justify the cost. That’s a critical issue, as farmers—sensitive to the practicalities of running a business—face hard-nosed calculations about the cost-benefit ratio of new technologies.
Meanwhile, various forms of instrumentation are now central to farm operations, Porter says. Combines outfitted with sensors monitor grain flow and harvest losses, making real-time adjustments to maximize yield. Automated systems plant seeds at precise, optimal depths, and today’s irrigation systems rely on remote sensors that can be monitored and manipulated via smartphone—a far cry from the old days of irrigation, when a loose fitting could leak for days before being discovered.
Better yields, greener planet
The promise of precision ag also extends to the environment. Bruno Basso, a Michigan State University Research Foundation professor who specializes in row-crop production systems, says that some of the most exciting technological advances he’s seen involve regenerative practices—building better soil health.
His research focuses on using technology that identifies and improves performance variability within fields in ways that also help the environment. Using drones, historical-yield field maps, and modeling, Basso’s lab created and distributed 25,000 acres’ worth of prescription maps focused on low-yield or problem fields on farms ranging from North Dakota to Mississippi.
The maps offer specific blueprints for reclaiming unproductive areas, which might mean, for example, planting cover crops to regenerate the soil. The plans both quantify the reduction in emissions that can in turn be sold as carbon credits and suggest ways to increase biodiversity. The Natural Resources Conservation Service then pays farmers $10 an acre to implement the recommendations. Basso says these sorts of turnkey solutions are critical. “You can’t just give farmers more work to do—more homework,” he says.
