Learning about new technology occurs in different ways. Some people will take classes at the local college. Others may use the internet to search for information or YouTube to learn how to do something. Some may actually read magazine articles. Winter or those slow times between crop production cycles brings another option for learning: conferences, […] Read more
Tag Archives Precision Happens
Robots are coming to agriculture — get ahead of them
Back in my boyhood days on the farm, labour was the way to get things done. Our home farm was small but mostly self-sufficient. I and my three brothers milked cows by hand, stacked small hay bales in the barn by hand and cleaned the cattle and hog pens by hand. When we expanded the […] Read more
Data collection from above; getting the right stuff from flight
After flying drones for a few years, I was asked to speak at various conferences. Most of these are professional and proper affairs in which people sit quietly to listen, applaud the speaker politely, and ask thoughtful questions afterward. However, at one memorable conference at which there were people representing drones, manned aerial systems and […] Read more
Bringing it all together: linking data with field, office, vehicle
So far in this series of articles on telemetry, I’ve written about how wireless signals work, how telemetry works and what it can do. What is missing is how to actually set it up to operate. Most of the time it sounds easier than it actually is. The good news is that precision ag companies […] Read more
Precision ag more than tools; it’s a way of thinking
After spending a career teaching precision farming in the U.S. Midwest, I have made the switch to west coast agriculture. Growing up in Iowa, corn, soybeans, oats, alfalfa and pastureland were pretty much the extent of my experience in crops. There is corn as far as the eye can see in some parts of Iowa, […] Read more
Cellphones play key role in most telemetry systems
So far in this series of articles on telemetry, I’ve written about how wireless signals work, how telemetry works and what it can do. What is missing is how to actually set it up to operate. Most of the time it sounds easier than it actually is. The good news is that precision ag companies […] Read more
Who’s organizing the air waves; sorting out the frequencies
This column has been exploring the concept of telemetry as a tool for agriculture and defined it as the wireless transmission of data. Before discussing how to use telemetry in agriculture, here’s a simplified look to appreciate how it works. Wireless transmission of data is carried on electrical signals of different frequencies. Electrical signals are […] Read more
Farmers still need precision farming support
As the use of technology is expanding and more of the things we do require a computer and basic computer literacy, the younger generation would seem to have a major advantage. They have serious finger skills. On the other side is my mother-in-law; she has happy fingers. Usually something happy is good, but in regards […] Read more
Precision ag is all about how, when, where and what
Precision farming, specifically spatial analytics, is about making decisions from the data that we can glean from a field. No matter what the crop is, hundreds of types of data can be collected for analysis. Yield is the biggest one. After all, it is the net result, the outcome for the year, the source of […] Read more
Understanding invisible infrared imagery valuable
Many people are jumping on the unmanned aerial vehicle bandwagon, but that is mainly because of how cool, new and interesting it is to fly the things around. However, what farmers need to worry about the most is imagery. Of course, drones are not the only way to get imagery of a field. Everything discussed […] Read more
