How Technology is Helping Michigan Farmers with Production and Efficiency

In partnership with: Michigan Department of Agriculture & Rural Development

Michigan farmers can monitor and control irrigation systems from their smartphones. Drones flying high above the field can spot plant disease before widespread onset. And hands-free steering in the tractor cab makes a good day of planting corn better by the end of it.

Technology on modern-day Michigan farms takes efficiency, productivity and environmental awareness to a level most people don’t realize.

“The general public is really unaware of how much technology is currently being used on the farm,” says Bruno Basso, a researcher of crop modeling and land use sustainability at Michigan State University. “We don’t have self-driving cars, but we’ve had self-driving tractors for nearly 20 years.”

In fact, auto-steer technology on tractors ranks as the most widely adopted technological advancement on Michigan farms, Basso says. Global-positioning satellites guide the tractor hands-free through a field. This allows the tractor and its implement to eliminate overlapped areas and achieve straight rows, thus saving money on seed, fertilizer and time while also increasing productivity, using fewer resources and reducing operator fatigue. Likewise, high-tech irrigation systems use water more efficiently. Application technologies reduce fertilizer use. Aerial imagery gives farmers the ability to scout crops from the sky. And the industry expects more advancements to come.

Technology Allows Farming by the Foot

Like auto-steer technology in tractors, global-positioning satellites allow application of fertilizer within only the areas of a field that need it, says Jim Zook, executive director of the Michigan Corn Growers Association.

With the aid of satellite-guided yield maps and soil testing, agronomists can write field-by-field prescriptions that tell the satellite-guided spreader precisely where to place variable rates of fertilizer or lime to eliminate costly and detrimental over-application of nutrients.

“We gauge and look at nutrient usage and nutrient loading of soils through our voluntary nutrient management program,” Zook says. “We’ve been able to monitor that we’ve had a reduction in overall use of fertilizer. With technology, we are able to put fertilizers on at the appropriate time and the appropriate place, which is better for the bottom line and the environment.”

Corn and soybean farmers see the results of this technology at harvest time, when their combines collect site-specific yield data. Onboard computers in the combine collect yield data to generate a map that shows production variances across a field.

Turning data like this into decisions is still a challenge for many farms.

“A void we have in the industry is making sense of all that data and putting that into practice to help make management decisions,” Zook says.

Management May Take Flight

From corn and soybeans to onions and apples, John Hill sees potential for aerial imagery to change management on Michigan’s diverse mix of farms.

Unmanned aerial vehicles, often nicknamed drones, can fly over a field and capture imagery that identifies water stress, fertilizer deficiencies, seed germination rates and even early detection of disease.

“It’s about trying to find new ways to increase your yields with less inputs and greater profits so our food and ag industry can stay vibrant and strong,” says Hill, regional manager for the Pesticide and Plant Pest Management Division of the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development. “Imagine if you were able to, as a farmer, identify that there is only a certain portion of your field that needs to be managed.”

While the use of aerial imagery is in its infancy, Hill sees great potential to spot, manage and treat crops from the air. High-resolution cameras can zoom on individual leaves with precision and identify diseases early in their establishment, allowing farmers to stop a disease before it spreads.

“I’m excited about what could happen with ag technology in Michigan. Ag has the greatest potential to be the No. 1 user of drones in the country with this aerial imagery technology,” Hill says. “I don’t think a drone is going to replace a tractor, but it’s going to be a great tool for the future farmers of Michigan.”