Tuesday, March 13, 2018

How Technology Continues to Impact Agriculture


By Natalina Sents, Digital Content Editor, Meredith Agrimedia

Walking the aisles of any of the recent agriculture trade shows, it’s apparent: technology is changing agriculture at a rapid pace. Farmers and ranchers are producing more with less than ever before. Growers now have real-time seed and soil information at their fingertips from the comfort of their air-conditioned cabs. Sensors tell livestock farmers that their animals are sick long before symptoms can be seen by the human eye.

Technology has deep roots in agriculture. Innovation has been helping farmers and ranchers raise better food, feed, fuel, and fiber more efficiently for decades. Just think about the dramatic improvements on family farms around the country when the John Deere Waterloo Boy first made its way to the countryside 100 years ago. Since horse-drawn planters revolutionized farming in the 1800s, farmers have grown to cover up to 48 rows in a single pass.

As the world continues to change, agriculture has led the early adoption of autonomous machines and advanced genetics. Farmers rely on Successful Farming to keep them up to date as technology becomes available for their operations, and impacts the markets they sell to.

So, technology has also revolutionized the way we share stories with farmers. The Successful Farming magazine is now 116 years old and still delivers the news and information farmers need to be successful. But now, growers can get that information in their email inbox, on their television, through radio, social media, and even the Alexa home device.

Agriculture will continue to transform as the capabilities and the supportive infrastructure for technology continues to advance. What will the future hold? It has been said, the best way to predict the future is to create it.