There are very few points in time when a person can help influence the future of an industry they love. Agriculture is my industry. Technological advancements such as John Deere’s plow, McCormick’s reaper, Eli Whitney’s cotton gin from the industrial revolution, and Norman Borlaug’s breeding techniques that started the green revolution, are the foundation of today’s agriculture.
Today we are in the information age, and Unmanned Air Systems (UAS) are another such advancement that can positively impact agriculture. The ability to capture information to help farmers and ranchers better understand their operations to make more informed management decisions is a reality.
My family’s farm was founded in 1903, the same year the Wright Brothers had the first successful powered flight. Over one hundred years later, I have tractors that drive themselves, the capability to properly apply inputs to specific areas, and eyes in the sky to assist in monitoring the crops during the growing system. As the old advertisement stated, “We’ve come a long way, baby.”
My precision agriculture journey began in 2003 by using a PDA (handheld digital device) with a wire connected to a small GPS receiver to do simple mapping. Now we use our smartphones with built-in GPS and apps that are way more complex, user-friendly and functional to not only gather data, but to control irrigation systems remotely.
In 2004 I put a yield monitor onto the combine. It's made up of a computer in the cab with different sensors situated in and around the machine to collect data on elevation, temperature, crop moisture, on-the-go yield, etc. This is great information, but it is reactive data. That means the crop has matured to be harvested and there is nothing more I can do to affect the outcome of the growing season.
I had my part in taking precision agriculture to new heights in 2006 by becoming the first farmer in the U.S. to own and use a UAS. Just like my early precision ag journey, there were many rocky roads to traverse and lessons to be learned. It’s tough being on the “bleeding” edge of industry.
With the advancements of UASs and other agriculture technology, we have surpassed precision agriculture and are now in the early stages of surgical agriculture.
What I mean is that through advancements in technology we can do an even better job of managing our soils, crops and other resources to more precise levels.
UASs change the game drastically. They can collect data throughout the growing season so management decisions can be made on when to water, fertilizer needs in certain areas, weed problems that need to be treated, or other anomalies that show up. The best part is that I now have coordinates to physically check targeted areas, which makes better use of my time.
However, a UAS is only as good as the other precision ag equipment on the farm. If there are no computers on the tractors or controllers on the equipment, the UAS data collected is just good general information with no directed purpose—nothing more than pretty pictures. Also, without the yield monitor, images taken during the growing season cannot be quantified to know how good our management strategy was.
I have used the data gathered via UAS for multiple things such as showing wildlife damage in crops, seeing how far the nutrients from cow manure travel from winter feeding areas, spotting pest areas, and for management lessons on operating equipment properly. Basically, I want to gather as much data as possible so when the time comes that new software and systems have been developed, I have many years of historical data to show the path forward.
To be successful, agriculture and our urban cousins need to quit pointing fingers and work together. Farmers and ranchers are sustainable, and we can use technology to not only prove it but to make it better. But we need help from the business industry outside of our sandbox to create technologies and solutions centered on the vast agronomic knowledge farmers have gained from years of working and loving the land.
UAS is a natural evolution in agriculture’s story, and it can help our industry responsibly meet the tremendous challenge of feeding 9 billion people by the year 2050. Farmland is being consumed by people to live on. Water use is becoming restricted. Resources are depleting. Precision agriculture technology and UASs will play a major role in agriculture being successful. But we need help from outside our industry.
Robert Blair is a fourth-generation farmer from north-central Idaho managing 1,500 dryland acres of wheat, barley, peas, lentils, chickpeas, alfalfa and cattle. The farm is situated on the edge of the rolling hills of the Palouse and not far from his alma mater the University of Idaho, where he received his bachelor’s degree in agriculture business. Blair is also the current president of the Idaho Grain Producers Association, past chairman of the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) Research & Tech Committee, and chairman of the U.S. Wheat/NAWG Joint Biotech Committee.
This article originally appeared on Blair’s blog, “The Unmanned Farmer,” in October 2014. Follow “The Unmanned Farmer” at theunmannedfarmer.blogspot.com.