News

Researcher expects more & smaller precision ag tools in future

A University of Wisconsin Extension researcher says there are constant advancements in precision agriculture tools, but for many farmers, investing in them will have to wait.

Dr. Brian Luck tells Brownfield for him, the new tools that can influence management decisions about inputs or maximize yields are good, but, “It’s all about R-O-I in this case.  Some of the technologies may be too new for us to justify investing in them, but eventually, they will become valuable enough that we can use them.”

Luck does not believe there will be a lot of large, autonomous tractors in fields, even after the technology becomes more common.  “The gist of all of the autonomous stuff is smaller machines, more of them, and them communicating within the field and within the farm to accomplish the same field efficiency and capacity that we have with our larger machines.”

And, Luck says along with the safety issues of a large machine malfunctioning and operating off course, a fleet of smaller machines means less downtime.  “If you had ten or twelve of them, and one of them goes away, you’re losing efficiency and capacity possibly, but you’re not dead in the water.”

Luck talked to Brownfield after his presentation to the Wisconsin Potato and Vegetable Growers Association in Stevens Point, Wisconsin.