High-tech down on the farm

KENTON, Ohio – Although farmer Brian Watkins still can’t control the weather, nearly everything else is a different matter. With computerized gadgets that can steer a tractor, monitor how much corn is harvested per acre and keep fresh air flowing through the pig barn, Watkins’ farm is an example of the impact modern technology has had on agriculture.

Watkins, 43, is the sixth generation of his family to farm land about 60 miles northwest of Columbus, Ohio. He started farming 23 years ago with about 400 acres. Now the farm is a small business with 2,000 hogs and 5,000 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat.

The planter that sows corn and soybeans can finish 400 acres on a good day. It wasn’t long ago that they were happy to get through 20 acres in a day. His Caterpillar combine can harvest 35,000 bushels per hour.

“That’s what makes farms get bigger,” Watkins said.

Not everyone has embraced technology and the movement toward large farming. Some environmental groups think big farms are to blame for increased water and air pollution. And some farmers believe that the advances in technology have led to the demise of family farms.

But Watkins doesn’t see it that way. Advancements in agriculture have eliminated a lot of back-breaking work.

“I don’t want to go back to using horses and old tractors,” he said. “I don’t want to shovel manure by hand. To me, that’s ludicrous.”

There’s no more daily lifting of feed bags to keep the hogs nourished. A computer in the barn controls the food, water, temperature and air flow.

Soon, wireless Internet may allow computers to instantly monitor how much corn is coming off the field and send the data back to the office. The equipment already is in place on Watkins’ farm, but it can’t reach all of the fields.

Sam Beiler, 32, who helps operate the farm’s feed mill, said, “the tractor’s driving itself anyway, so you might as well be checking the markets.”

This past spring, Watkins planted his cornfields for the first time with a Global Positioning System that allowed his tractor to essentially drive itself. A fixed transmitter on the farm sends signals back to the tractor that allow it to travel a straight line; a human operator still has to turn it around.

The GPS allows farmers to work longer into the night when it’s more difficult to see. They can avoid planting on top of old root systems. And it reduces fatigue, Watkins said.

A memory card stores the paths already taken so he can pick up exactly where he stopped. The system also is creating a topographical map of the fields that is accurate to within an inch.

Watkins plans on combining that information with numbers gathered by yield monitors on his combines that tell him which fields are producing the most corn and soybeans.

All of that will help him decide where more drainage is needed in the fields and lead to more production.

“My grandfather knew you needed drainage for this to work,” Watkins said.

The difference now is that farmers can make better decisions based on the data technology provides.

“You can see how much money you’re leaving on the table,” he said.