When most people think of farming, there a lot of images that immediately come to mind—animals, tractors, farm equipment—but what about drones and GPS? Precision farming has been rising in popularity over the last few years and is way more tech-savvy than most people would expect.
New precision farming employs auto-steered tractors that track their precise location with GPS systems, soil sample analysis technology and crop sensors to discover bugs and diseases before they become a problem. Many times, the sensors will alert farmers of plant diseases or bugs before the problem can even been seen by the naked eye. However, an article by the Business Recorder states that there has been some trouble getting farmers to switch over to the more automated system.
“You’re asking farmers to alter what they have been doing for years,” said Paul Spies of the Chester River Association, an environmental group to a Business Recorder journalist. “They want to see proof that it will work.”
Precision Farming also uses drones to provide real-time data to farmers and soil mapping and GPS positioning to help farmers plant the best crop in the best possible location.
Indeed, innovations like these are making the farming process more convenient and efficient. Data + Drones = Future.