Tech Talk: Future Farming | Video

Jerame Novak | 1/30/2013

With advances in agriculture research and technology, farm life is changing....fast.

"Here`s how fast it`s happened. So I started selling Farm Works in 2007, six years ago. What I was selling in 2007 was light bars and we were using HP ipacs. I ask college kids, what`s an ipac? or what`s a Palm? And they`re clueless. And that`s just six years ago," said Paul Overby with Verdi-Plus.

One big advance is precision agriculture, which uses GPS and other technology to help producers plant their crops. That means farmers are putting more technology in their equipment.

"The biggest thing that`s changed has been the cabs, the technology, the GPS, the auto steer in them," said Tom Wald with Butler Machinery.

With GPS and other devices in their equipment. Some say the next step is getting information from the field to the farm wirelessly.

"I think wireless technology is going to be the big stepping stone. Everybody wants all of this technology flipped right to their iphone or their ipad so they have it everywhere they go. I think that`s the direction we`re heading," said Jason Sjostrom with Ideal Systems.

But with the rapid advances in technology, the possibilities for growth seem endless.

"I have no idea. When auto steer first came out, I didn`t thing we`d ever have it, but now everything has it," said Kyle Rzaszvtak from Carrington.

"It`s hard to say, it really is. Just visiting with people, I`m seeing a lot more zone mapping coming in," said Steve Szudera from Beach.

"And it`s just getting better all the time. You know, I don`t know how much more can change. It`s probably just getting better," Wald said.

They don`t know what the next crop of technology will bring, but they`ll keep going, and growing, with whatever comes their way.

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