Life on the Cyber Farm
In recent years, the agricultural industry has made tremendous gains in productivity and efficiency with the emergence of wireless communications, Geographic Information Systems (GIS), Global Position Systems (GPS), information management tools, and Internet-based software and services.
Today, many mainstream farmers across the US are relying on these technologies and tools to maximize their operations and decision-making. Precision agriculture, as the practice is called, uses a Real Time Kinematic (RTK) positioning and tracking system to provide farmers with autosteer guidance, soil mapping, fleet management, asset tracking, inventory management, and vehicle tracking.
Though there are a few companies offering this technology, such as John Deere and Trimble, their products have some common characteristics. These systems allow the operator to visualize the farm site in real time (usually from a dedicated display) in 3-D and to have real time two-way communication with assets. With this technology, farmers can multi-task, produce straight crop rows with sub-inch accuracy, reduce idle time, lessen the wear and tear on machinery, and engage in precision seeding and spraying.
And that is just the tip of the proverbial iceberg.
Other companies are coming up with unique tools and products to help farmers farm better. Last year, Leica Geosystems introduced a unique feature called the Virtual Wrench. This web-based diagnostics and servicing tool allows Leica service technicians to remotely reach into any system via the Internet to fix problems and fine-tune equipment while field work is underway. The operator merely presses a button to request a Leica Virtual Wrench service technician and soon afterward receives a return call.
According to a recent article in Farm Industry News, Leica now plans to use the same technology for its Virtual Wrench product to provide farmers remote access to all aspects of the farming operation via the Web. The farmer just needs to got to the website where he can not only monitor operations, but send information to operators in the field and control any software enabled variables. This service will also be available for mobile devices, such as smartphones.
