The military started using them to safely check on enemy activity without putting troops in harms way, but Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are now starting to be used for many civilian applications, especially in agriculture. USDA scientists are studying how UAVs may be used to keep an eye on changing land-use patterns across vast tracts of western rangeland. Ranchers, government … Read More
New Method Transforms Digital Cameras for Aerial Photography
Scientists with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service have patented a way to transform commercial digital cameras to produce color infrared aerial photos that can measure the extent of vegetative cover. USDA has jointly patented the technology that can take an ordinary 12-megapixel camera sold without an internal filter that blocks near-infrared (NIR) light and then add a custom-made lens filter to … Read More
There’s an app for that, too
There are Android and iPhone apps for just about everything. My friend, Jason Webster runs the Practical Farm Research for Beck‘s Hybrids in Downs, Ill. In addition he farms, too. Jason fully admits he doesn’t always practice what he used to preach about scouting fields during the growing season. Because of that – he’s gone to a more sophisticated form of scouting. One that he utilizes and … Read More
Drones Tested for Agriculture Use
Look up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s a Multi-Rotor Remote Sensing System! Somehow Multi-Rotor Remote Sensing System (MRRSS) just doesn’t have quite the same ring as Superman, but these tiny remote-controlled, camera-equipped drones could give some farmers super powers to see their crops from a bird’s eye view. University researchers from Arkansas, Florida and … Read More
USDA Launches CropScape Data Service
To provide easier access to geospatial satellite products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) has just launched CropScape, a new cropland exploring service. CropScape provides data users access to a variety of new resources and information, including the 2010 cropland data layer (CDL) just released in conjunction with CropScape. The new service offers advanced tools such … Read More
The Year in Precision Farming – 2010 Recap
This past week, I caught up with Matt Darr, Iowa State University ag engineer and precision farming guru, to chat with him about this past year in precision agriculture. “We’ve said for a few years now that ‘accuracy is addictive.’ Well farmers are proving that as this has been a year driven by higher precision—a move to more RTK accuracy.” … Read More
Precision at National Ag Aviation Convention
Precision farming technology was on display at the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) Convention in Savannah, Georgia last week. One of the many exhibitors of precision technology at the NAAA Trade Show was AgSync. Their slogan is “It’s not just about maps anymore.” Sales Manager Clay Rassi says the company offers everything from customer management to mapping to communicating work … Read More
New European TalkingFields Service Offers Real Advice
A European Space Agency (ESA) project , TalkingFields, aims to takes satellite observations of fields and provide actionable advice to farmers throughout the growing season. The TalkingFields initiative is now showing how to combine satellite observation with satellite navigation to benefit European farmers. Sustainable food production and food security are critical challenges. TalkingFields will help by using precision farming methods … Read More
ARS Using Field Topography To Improve Fertilizer Use
Using an airplane with LIDAR (light detection and ranging) sensors is helping USDA-ARS researchers build better management zone maps that can accurately predict yields based on topography. With the maps fed into computerized, variable-rate fertilizer applicators, precision farmers can divert more of their costly fertilizer to the highest-yielding zones and the least to the lowest-yielding zones. They can also use … Read More
Ag Camera on Space Station to Watch Crops
University of North Dakota students and faculty designed and built the ISSAC camera to watch growing crops from space beginning in 2011. “ISSAC is a space-related research project that will result in the delivery of direct benefits from space to the general public,” said Doug Olsen, ISSAC project manager. “The ISSAC project is in the midst of developing an upgrade … Read More