HIGH-TECH AGRICULTURE

A small black box in the glassed-in, air-conditioned cab of the big green combine records harvest data as the driver sweeps across the soybean, or wheat, field.

At one point in a corn field, the "little black box" may register 48 bushels an acre. At another point, the needle may pass the 100-bushel mark.

A special software program permits the use of satellite signals to determine information on crop yields and fertility of field.s

Computerized feeding systems enable livestock to be fed limited amounts and certain types of food.

This is the age of high technology, and it has spread to the farm.

More and more farmers are using new technology in agriculture to reduce wastes and get more bushels of grain from their land. The high-tech sweep has also spread to the raising of livestock, where computerization is being used to keep records on ages, dates and records of calving and litters, feeding programs and other data for cattle and swine.

From computers in air-conditioned combines, tractors and other pieces of farm equipment to improving methods of drying grain and to automatic feeding systems for livestock and vastly improved record keeping, the age of what farm magazines refer to as "trend precision agriculture" is here.

"There is always something new coming out in agriculture, just like other areas," said William Meyer of the department of agriculture at Southeast Missouri State University. "Farmers are adapting and finding these to be some very useful tools."

Bio-tech means are being used now to help determine what chemicals and/or fertilizers are needed in fields for corn, soybean and cotton.

"They call it TB farming, and it helps reduce chemicals used, and makes for a cleaner environment," said Meyer.

The university's Demonstration Farm, which is highly computerized, teaches students the value of high-tech agriculture.

Meyer believes technology in agriculture will increase.

"I think everyone is beginning to recognize computers as a management tool," said Meyer. "They can do a better job of producing milk, meat and eggs," said Meyer. "In field production we have better records, and consequently can do better analyses of what we should do in future planning. With genetic engineering and computer systems, I think we'll see more advance in the next 15 years than we've seen in mankind," said Meyer.

All this doesn't take the human out, said Meyer. "It just gives them an opportunity to do more."

Some new combines are already being equipped with yield monitoring systems, which reveal production and pinpoint areas where more or different fertilizers is needed to improve on the overall crop.

"These devices are available for tractors, combines and other harvesting equipment," said Jerry Strack, owner of Strack Equipment Inc. John Deere-Tractors & Equipment, Old Orchard Road, Jackson.

"These will be big high technology devices in the new century," said Strack. As few as 8,000 monitors may be in existence in the U.S. today. "They're not that heavily used right now in this area, but they are definitely a thing of the future."

Technology is changing every day in the agriculture industry, said Strack. "There is so much more available now than there was just five years ago. And, that trend will continue."

At one time, many farmers viewed computers as a record-keeping tool, but now the technology has advanced far beyond record keeping, like the in-bin continuous-flow grain drying, which helps prevent overdrying of grain that ultimately costs farmers money.

With livestock, there is a variety of uses for technology, enabling farmers to deal with each head of livestock individually.

Devices can be placed around a dairy cow's neck and the feeding system releases only the amount of food that cow is entitled to. It also limits how much a cow can consume certain times a day, enabling milk producers to use feeding as a way of increasing milk production.