Precision agriculture may be wave of future farming

By MINDY POEHL | Central Texas Edition

Dec. 8, 2005 - The 17th Annual Texas Plant Protection Conference (TPPC), held in College Station Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, wrapped up with discussions on precision agriculture, which helps with planting and harvesting. Precision agriculture is where many people see the agricultural community heading, .

"Precision ag is a system to better manage farm resources," explained Paul Richardel, crop systems specialist with John Deere in Dallas.

"Most people think of precision agriculture as using GPS (global positioning system) receivers, satellites and it all ends up with some guy looking at the computer screen," said Steve Searcy, biological and agricultural engineer with A&M. "It has two aspects. The first aspect is GPS, GIS (geographic information system) software, variable rate controllers and guidance systems. The second aspect is using better information. Precision ag helps efficiency improvements, it helps you understand what's happening and it is concerned with variance as well as mean."

Precision agriculture has been around for 20 years, which is "long enough that the excitement and breathless promotion has worn off," stated Searcy.

In 1985, the patent was issued for the variable rate applicator fertilizer. That product was marketed in 1987. In 1993, the first commercial yield monitors were used, and in the 2000's, auto steering systems are being produced.

"At first, GPS systems were too expensive for the average farmer to afford," Richardel said, "but now they are more affordable."

In 2000, only 10 -15 percent of the agriculture marked used precision ag technology. By 2008 the predicted use of precision ag in the market will be up to 38 percent, Searcy explained.

"The site-specific management (SSM) is harder to adopt than what I call the easy "blackbox" technologies," Searcy said. 

He suggests using the MEDA strategy, which includes monitoring, evaluating, diagnosing and acting. Monitor by using field mapping. Evaluate areas that are profitable and non-profitable. Diagnose the regions of inefficiency using methods and finding the problem. Act by making management changes in response to the inefficiencies.

In 2000, 68 percent of precision ag was profitable.

"It has direct opportunities," Searcy said. "It improves machine capacity, improves labor efficiency and improves input efficiency."

Richardel spoke about guidance systems, which help in farming and planting.

"There are assisted and unassisted guidance systems," Richardel explained. "Assisted systems include Parallel Tracking, light bars and path accuracy indicators. Unassisted systems are Auto Steer or auto guide. AutoTrac is unassisted and it can go in circles or on a straight track. It's like turning your cruise control on in your car."

Richardel works with John Deere, that provides guidance systems, but he also named the other top five providers: Trimble, Outback, Novanant, Raven and Ag Leader.

"There are a lot of choices. You have to ask yourself what are you using this for. What equipment are you going to put it on? What is the cost and what kind of support can you get?," Richardel said. "Manual guidance systems cost $1,500 and up. Auto guidance systems cost $6,400 and up."

Although the systems may be expensive, Richardel said great benefits come along with them. The systems help with the ease of the operation, they decrease the expertise of the operator, they lessen fatigue, increase the work window, eliminate row markers, decrease the cost of production by reduced overlap, and most importantly, they help improve the quality of life of the user.

The future precision ag developments include sensor networks, variable rate irrigation and wireless networks.