How Technology is Changing Farming

Technology is helping growers and farmers make quicker and more accurate decisions, it's making it easier to do business and in many cases its changing their bottom line.

With the growth in innovations and apps it doesn’t look like the increase in use of technology by farmers is going to slow down any time soon. 

We look at some key advances in technology and how farmers and growers are using these to reap the benefits.

GPS

GPS technology uses satellites to pinpoint locations. And just as tractors have replaces draft horses on the farm, GPS technology has replaced ‘eyeballing’ and experienced guesswork in everything from guiding tractors, to positioning irrigators, to accurately mapping farms.

Tractors with GPS and automatic steering systems can place furrows in a paddock with millimetre precision. After ploughing GPS information can be used to control the placement of seeds within furrows, reducing waste and saving money.

Sampling soils and using GPS to plot the samples for a paddock or farm can give a farmer valuable information about which areas need fertiliser and which don’t. This information can save money and ensure that only the areas that need to nutrients are getting it.

GPS guided drones are performing tasks from crop spraying to livestock monitoring and creating 3D maps. Read more about GPS guided drones and farming.

Sensor technology

Sensor technology is being used on farms to monitor everything from soil water content, temperature, humidity in grain silos and information about plant health.

The days of ‘set and forget’ for pivot irrigation appear to be limited. With concerns about water use farmers are turning to sensors to manage irrigation.

Check out Irrigation New Zealand to learn about irrigation scheduling – soil moisture monitoring.

Online Resources

From cloud computing to farming apps, to being a font of information, the Internet is becoming a valuable tool for farmers and growers.

If you work in the agriculture industry it's  worthwhile checking out the online resources available – there are calculators, production and planning tools – there's bound to be plenty of online resources that can help you in your business.

If you are not sure what to look for, check out the following websites to get you started:

• http://saferfarms.org.nz/
• http://farmnews.co.nz/
• https://www.dairynz.co.nz/farm/
• https://farmersweekly.co.nz
• http://www.getfarming.co.nz/
• https://smap.landcareresearch.co.nz/

Or if you are looking for useful apps, software and other smart tools check out AgriOne’s library of online tools and the Foundation for Arable Research’s Electronic tools.

Don’t forget to check out farming forums. Forums, also known as message boards, are essentially discussion websites. A forum allows people to have conversations in the form of posted messages. The best way to find a forum is to Google key words like "arable farming NZ forum" or "NZ sheep forum".

Mobile Devices

No longer just for making phone calls, mobile phones are becoming the 'farm tech' in your pocket.

A growing number of farmers are using smartphones or tablets out in ‘the field’. From checking commodity markets, to taking a photo of an unknown pest or disease, to aligning a strainer post with a spirit level app, there is no end of uses for mobile devices on the farm.

One of greatest benefits a mobile device provides is value through the apps you can have. Lots of apps are being specifically developed to help farmers. It’s worthwhile talking to others in the agriculture industry, friends and family about the apps that they find useful.

Learn more about how farmers are using mobile devices.

Smart Farming and Precision Agriculture

The advent of the above technologies has paved the way for Smart Farming or Precision Agriculture. In its simplest definition, Smart farming is using tools that are connected to the Internet or capture data to make farming decisions.

If we take irrigation for example, a sensor is mounted on a centre pivot irrigator to measure the soil moisture ahead of the wetting path of the pivot, to provide real time data. This information is used by the pivot to vary the rate of irrigation.

Another example of smart farming is drones fitted with sensors that detect plant health (using NIR values). A speedy response to signs of poor health can save an entire crop.

Precision agriculture is about using data to be more precise with farming. Farmers being more precise in their application of fertiliser, agri-sprays and water.

Check out www.precisionagriculture.org.nz to learn more.