Ag Leader Technology Blog

Precision agriculture has introduced many new terms into the farming vocabulary, and these terms can seem a bit overwhelming when getting started in precision farming. A basic understanding of commonly used precision ag terms can lead to a better overall perception of precision farming to help you make more informed decisions about your precision farming plan.  So, as part of our Precision Point blog, we are going to start posting Lessons in Precision Ag, a course focusing on common precision ag subjects.

To begin with, it’s important that we start with defining “precision farming”. Although this may seem trivial, there are several ways that the term can be defined, and it’s important that we have an accurate understanding of what precision farming means and how you can use it on your operation. For our purposes, we will define precision farming as:

Adjusting production inputs and practices based on in-field variability through the use of site-specific information and precision technologies.

However, this is just one of the many definitions of precision farming that you may find. The definition of precision farming can vary depending on how you use it on your operation. Your definition of precision farming should be based on what you want to accomplish on your operation and what technologies will work best to get you there. (Jessica Reis talked about getting started in precision farming here). You should have a specific goal in mind when implementing precision farming on your operation, whether that goal is saving time, reducing costs, improving environmental stewardship, or a host of other benefits. Your definition should incorporate what it is you want to get out of precision farming, and this can change as your goals and practices change and progress.

In addition, precision ag is rapidly changing and progressing. We have made huge strides and will continue to do so, constantly broadening our definition of precision farming. We will be explaining some of the new and emerging technologies in this blog, and you will be able to see just how quickly precision farming progresses. For instance, there are constantly new satellite systems and correction services being made available. As these are adapted for use in precision ag, our technologies will adapt as well. Precision farming, therefore, is a working definition that will be amended as our technologies continue to expand.

As we move forward with Lessons in Precision Ag, we will be defining and disucssing some common – and sometimes confusing – precision ag terms. We will explore the terms’ importance to precision ag and help you discover the terms’ importance to your personal operation.

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Tags: ag, Ag Leader, Ag Leader Technology, agriculture, customer support, farm, farming, precision agriculture, precision farming
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