A University of Georgia
scientist says Georgia
farmers may soon have maps that show how much money they
make — or lose — in any spot on
their farm. Other maps can show where problems are and,
to some extent, how to fix them.

“This profit map shows a farmer the bottom line,” said Calvin
Perry, a research engineer with
the UGA College of
Agricultural and Environmental
Sciences.

“Other maps can show where problems are,” Perry
said. “But when he can
see what he put into his pockets — how much profit he
made on that land — he can begin
making his operation more efficient.”

Perry studies precision farming at the Coastal
Plain Experiment Station on the CAES Tifton campus.
George
Vellidis, Jeffrey
Durrence and Dan
Thomas, all engineers, are part of
the large team working to develop, perfect and test
precision farming equipment, software
and methods.

Profit maps and yield maps show farmers short-term
and long-term issues they must face
and manage to become and stay profitable, Thomas
said.

Farmers use Global
Positioning
System satellites to map soil types, disease or
insect problems, nutrient and water
applications, yields and, finally, profit.

The maps show the yield or profit for every part of a
field, Thomas said.

Special sensors attached to harvesters fitted with
GPS locators gather the information.
Computer software links the yield data with specific
spots in the fields. The farmers then
use other software to create the maps.

“Yield mapping is a key component of precision
farming,” Vellidis said.
“It allows farmers to see the results of their
management practices.”

Vellidis said all those maps make management more
intense. They make farming more
complicated and simpler at the same time.

“So many factors affect the crop yield it’s hard to
say ‘this one will make the
change,’” he said. “But you can’t even try to make that
decision without
accurate information.”

Vellidis said yield maps show the farmer vividly
where he could make management changes
to boost profits.

“That’s really important for us now, as we’re looking
ahead and wondering if price
support programs will be there much longer,” he said.

Thomas said precision farming helps farmers be better
stewards of the environment.
“If you put out only the pesticides and nutrients you
need, and only where they’re
needed, you reduce the risk of overapplying chemicals
and environmental pollution,”
he said.

But not many farmers are using precision farming
methods yet.

“It’s not cheap,” Durrence said. “It’s hard to get
into it a little bit
at a time. And not many commercial services are
available yet.”

Durrence figures on a start-up cost of $12,000 in
equipment, including the yield
monitor, computer, printer, GPS equipment and a
subscription to a service that make the
GPS system more accurate.

Much of the precision farming technology was first
developed for farmers growing corn
and other grains in the Midwest.

“We started working to adapt that technology to
cotton and peanuts,” Vellidis
said. “We ended up almost starting over to get a yield
monitor that works for our
crops.”

Vellidis said five farmers — four in Georgia and one
in Texas — are planning to use
the peanut yield monitoring system this year. He hopes
the equipment will be on the market
for the 1999 season.

The team’s work with cotton yield monitoring isn’t
that far along. But they expect good
results soon. Two cotton yield monitors are on the
market. But UGA testing shows they need
some modifications to be accurate in Georgia growing
conditions.

“This is a high-tech approach to farming — a real
information revolution on the
farm,” Perry said. “It’s not easy to spot, except for
the GPS antenna, from the
highway. It’s exciting for us to see Georgia farmers on
the cutting edge of this
technology in the Southeast.”