Tractor guidance for every farm
Author: Farm Industry News

Byline: Wayne Wenzel

NEXT TIME YOU go for a drive in the country, try some road scouting. No, not for weeds (you're supposed to get out and walk your fields for that). We're talking about antennae scouting, specifically for those GPS antennae that seem to be sprouting up out of tractor cabs like mushrooms after a warm spring rain. Those antennae arrays are a sign of change and confirmation that farmers are adopting precision agriculture.

Flash back 10 years ago. Experts predicted that site-specific farming technologies would change agriculture. Farmers responded with a half-interested yawn. The equipment was expensive, and no one knew for sure if the investment would ever pay for itself. But now, as one enabling technology leads to another, the pieces are all snapping together like the picture in a giant jigsaw puzzle. Turns out the experts were right, just a bit ahead of the curve.

While more than a dozen companies compete to be a significant part of this now booming industry, university researchers such as North Dakota State's Vern Hofman are stepping back to take a look at where the technology stands today. Starting with yield monitors in combines, Hofman has been monitoring precision agriculture technologies for six years.

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