{"id":848,"date":"2019-03-11T12:11:22","date_gmt":"2019-03-11T20:11:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/vegnet\/?p=848"},"modified":"2023-03-15T13:26:30","modified_gmt":"2023-03-15T20:26:30","slug":"precision-ag-tools","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/vegnet\/2019\/03\/11\/precision-ag-tools\/","title":{"rendered":"Precision Ag Tools"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The definition of <strong>P<\/strong>recision <strong>A<\/strong>griculture <a href=\"http:\/\/www.grap.udl.cat\/en\/presentation\/pa_definitions.html\">has evolved over 22 years<\/a> and has more than a few associated acronyms (<strong>PA<\/strong>; SSCM=site-specific crop management; VRT=variable rate technology).<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center\">If one were to attempt to summarize the definition of PA: it involves <strong><span style=\"color: #808000\">awareness of growing conditions<\/span><\/strong> within a field and the <strong><span style=\"color: #808000\">use of technology<\/span><\/strong> as a <strong><span style=\"color: #808000\">decision support<\/span><\/strong> tool to maximize <strong><span style=\"color: #808000\">production efficiency<\/span><\/strong> while minimizing <strong><span style=\"color: #808000\">environmental impact<\/span><\/strong> of agricultural inputs.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>We may be most familiar with PATs (Precision Agriculture Technologies) such as:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>GPS-guided tractors<\/strong> or the use of<\/li>\n<li><strong>UAVs<\/strong> (unmanned aerial vehicles AKA &#8220;drones&#8221;) as imagery sensors or product applicators<\/li>\n<li>Other PATs include<strong> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.naio-technologies.com\/en\/\">robotic weeders<\/a><\/strong> and <a href=\"https:\/\/youtu.be\/1eTWpLZ-Hn8?t=348\"><strong>mechanized transplanters<\/strong><\/a>.<\/li>\n<li><em>So many acronyms!<\/em> <\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Check out The University of Sydney&#8217;s Australian Centre for Field Robotics promo video:<br><span class=\"embed-youtube\" style=\"text-align:center; display: block;\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" class=\"youtube-player\" width=\"770\" height=\"434\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/NO8PmqEI0cc?version=3&#038;rel=1&#038;showsearch=0&#038;showinfo=1&#038;iv_load_policy=1&#038;fs=1&#038;hl=en-US&#038;autohide=2&#038;wmode=transparent\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" style=\"border:0;\" sandbox=\"allow-scripts allow-same-origin allow-popups allow-presentation allow-popups-to-escape-sandbox\"><\/iframe><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Resources closer to home include the <strong><a style=\"color: #ff6600\" href=\"https:\/\/research.oregonstate.edu\/unmanned-systems-initiative\"><span style=\"color: #ff6600\">UAS at OSU<\/span><\/a><\/strong> <strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600\">program<\/span><\/strong>, and a fellow Beaver blogger who has a great annotated resource list about Drones in Agriculture <a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.oregonstate.edu\/jakobberger560\/?cat=1\">here<\/a>. UAVs are even being used for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.marketwatch.com\/press-release\/first-of-their-kind-drone-swarms-to-restore-oregon-rangelands-2019-02-20\">restoration seeding<\/a> efforts in Oregon rangelands.<\/p>\n<p>Perhaps you&#8217;re not quite ready for autonomous tech. One simple and easy way to jump on the PA bandwagon is to use <strong>calibration tools<\/strong>. These are based on mathematical models of soil and crop parameters for a specific latitude, soil type, etc.. At the click of a button, they provide output estimates to help schedule irrigation, determine fertilizer needs, or predict harvest dates. These are in addition to the MANY mobile apps now available.<\/p>\n<p>Another new trend (and a way to sneak in one last acronym) is for companies to offer SaaS: Software as Service, like our friends at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.valleyag.com\/Precision-Ag\/Platinum_Precision_Subscription1\">Valley Agronomics<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>As you go about planning and planting this year, why not give these PA tools a try. The program developers are usually very receptive to comments, as it helps them improve the models, or know that they are working adequately.<\/p>\n<h5 style=\"text-align: center\"><em><span style=\"color: #ff0000\">DISCLAIMER:<\/span> Mention or links to any of the products or services on this page do not imply endorsement.<\/em><\/h5>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Oregon State University <a href=\"https:\/\/extension.oregonstate.edu\/croptime\">Croptime<\/a> (web app) and Jan 2021 publication re: using it for &#8220;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/beav.es\/vegdegreedays\" target=\"_blank\">Vegetable Degree-Day Models<\/a>&#8220;<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Louisiana State Univ. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.joe.org\/joe\/2013june\/tt10.php\">Spreader calibration<\/a> (.xls) <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Univ. of Florida <a href=\"https:\/\/joe.org\/joe\/2019february\/tt2.php?utm_source=email&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_campaign=2019february\">Irrigation scheduler<\/a> (.xls) <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>WSU&#8217;s project on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.goodfruit.com\/washington-orchards-host-robotic-arms-race\/\">robotic arm harvesters<\/a> for apple orchards. PI: Dr. Manoj Karkee (online news)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;Driverless Farm Machinery May Lead to New Business Model&#8221; &#8211; <a href=\"https:\/\/beav.es\/ZvZ\">Capital Press article<\/a>, Jan 22 2020 (online news) <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>TerraSentia robots deployed to collect seed and canopy data &#8211; <a rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" href=\"https:\/\/www.agprofessional.com\/article\/robots-duty-plant-breeding\" target=\"_blank\">AgProfessional news<\/a>, July 9 2020<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>&#8220;<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.taylorfrancis.com\/chapters\/prospects-remotely-piloted-aircraft-systems-area-wide-integrated-pest-management-programmes-benavente-s%C3%A1nchez-moreno-molina-argil%C3%A9s-herrero\/e\/10.1201\/9781003169239-52?context=ubx&amp;refId=4df14e1f-9ffc-451d-9a01-618bc3530660\" target=\"_blank\">Prospects for Remotely Piloted Aircraft Sytems (RPAs) in IPM<\/a>&#8221; discusses the opportunities, current technical and legal constraints, and applications such as: targeted insecticide applications, and aerial releases of sterile insects and parasitoids (book chapter) 2020<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>WSU researchers using drones and enhanced satellite imagery for riparian scouting <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/news.cahnrs.wsu.edu\/article\/eyes-in-the-sky-help-make-streamside-ecosystems-more-sustainable\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u201cEyes in the sky\u201d<\/a>, Feb 2021 <\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>MDPI&#8217;s &#8220;<em>Agriculture<\/em>&#8221; journal is open access, and has over 300 articles about <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/journal\/agriculture\/sections\/Digital_Agriculture\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.mdpi.com\/journal\/agriculture\/sections\/Digital_Agriculture\" target=\"_blank\">Digital Agriculture<\/a>. Papers include research on imagery and detection systems, using neural networks to predict seed yield, all kinds of cool stuff!<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:66px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-gallery aligncenter has-nested-images columns-default is-cropped wp-block-gallery-1 is-layout-flex wp-block-gallery-is-layout-flex\">\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"809\" data-id=\"1089\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2847\/files\/2020\/01\/HarvestMoore_visionmapimage.jpg?resize=500%2C809&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1089\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2847\/files\/2020\/01\/HarvestMoore_visionmapimage.jpg?w=500&amp;ssl=1 500w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2847\/files\/2020\/01\/HarvestMoore_visionmapimage.jpg?resize=185%2C300&amp;ssl=1 185w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Computerized vision robot picker view of a mapping system to identify and target specific branches. credit: F. Moore<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"492\" height=\"717\" data-id=\"1469\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2847\/files\/2021\/07\/MTgrasshopperradar-1.png?resize=492%2C717&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-1469\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2847\/files\/2021\/07\/MTgrasshopperradar-1.png?w=492&amp;ssl=1 492w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/osu-wams-blogs-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com\/blogs.dir\/2847\/files\/2021\/07\/MTgrasshopperradar-1.png?resize=206%2C300&amp;ssl=1 206w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 492px) 100vw, 492px\" \/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">A grasshopper swarm detected by Nat&#8217;l Weather Service radar &#8211; Northern Montana, July 2021. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NWSGlasgow\/status\/1411043732770627589\" data-type=\"URL\" data-id=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/NWSGlasgow\/status\/1411043732770627589\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">View tweet<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The definition of Precision Agriculture has evolved over 22 years and has more than a few associated acronyms (PA; SSCM=site-specific crop management; VRT=variable rate technology). If one were to attempt to summarize the definition of PA: it involves awareness of growing conditions within a field and the use of technology as a decision support tool&hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/vegnet\/2019\/03\/11\/precision-ag-tools\/\">Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8003,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[1252991,1252505,135506,1253489,135505,1253150],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-848","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-brassicas","category-degree-days","category-management","category-snap-beans","category-squash","category-sweet-corn"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8vBJ4-dG","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/vegnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/vegnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/vegnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/vegnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8003"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/vegnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=848"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/vegnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1728,"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/vegnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/848\/revisions\/1728"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/vegnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=848"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/vegnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=848"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/agsci-labs.oregonstate.edu\/vegnet\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=848"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}