What is agriculture precision?
Agriculture precision, also known as precision farming, is a practice that aims to make farming more controlled and accurate. As a result, farmers can significantly minimize the use of pesticides, fertilizers, seeds, water, and other resources in their fields and when raising livestock. Naturally, there’s only one way to achieve a high level of agricultural precision – purchase and implement the right technological solutions for your operation.
Today, the practice of precision agriculture is becoming so popular that a study by Hexa Reports projects that the sector will grow to over $40 billion by 2025. So what tools can you use to achieve better agriculture precision?
Today, the practice of precision agriculture is becoming so popular that a study by Hexa Reports projects that the sector will grow to over $40 billion by 2025. So what tools can you use to achieve better agriculture precision?
Agriculture precision tools
Remote sensors
Remote sensors can provide a significant amount of information about soil quality and moisture levels, weather parameters, and the conditions of crops in the fields. Interestingly, this technology doesn’t only refer to specific moisture or, say, nitrogen sensors. It also includes things like satellites and drones. Farmers can combine information received from several types of sensors to make the best decisions.
Soil sampling
You may have noticed that even though you’re growing the same crops on the same field under seemingly identical conditions, plants grown in some parts of the field may be doing significantly better than others. Oftentimes, this happens because the soil in those spots is actually very different. The concentration of minerals in the soil, its pH levels, and numerous other parameters can vary significantly. If you sample soil in different parts of your fields, you can tailor agricultural procedures based on that information to achieve optimal crop yields.
Mobile and web applications
There’s a wide range of apps that can be used to improve agriculture precision in your fields. For instance, apps like FieldBee can be used to map fields, create detailed reports about past agricultural procedures, and even guide tractors and machinery with centimeter precision when used together with RTK GNSS receivers.
Advanced navigation technology
Unlike traditional GPS receivers, which allow farmers to carry out seeding, harvesting, and other operations with meter precision, GNSS receivers significantly improve the precision to about 1 cm. As a result, farmers achieve minimal field overlap and reduce their costs. Read our article to find out how to choose a farm GPS receiver and save up to 40 Euro/Ha.
“The best way to achieve agriculture precision depends on the country and internet coverage in the area. But the best way is to start with any RTK solution to minimize field overlap. Then upgrade to automatic steering, as it can save time and increase efficiency by more than 20%.” – Alexey Bogatyryev, FieldBee CTO
“The best way to achieve agriculture precision depends on the country and internet coverage in the area. But the best way is to start with any RTK solution to minimize field overlap. Then upgrade to automatic steering, as it can save time and increase efficiency by more than 20%.” – Alexey Bogatyryev, FieldBee CTO
Conclusion
Today, technology has gone a long way to help improve agriculture precision, make farming practices less wasteful, and improve yields. And the array of technological tools at farmers’ disposal is going to continue growing. The next step will be the development of artificial intelligence, which will analyze the huge amounts of information available to modern farmers and help them make informed decisions.
