Twenty Years of Precision Agriculture - more Questions than Answers?

After some visions/expectations the development of precision farming technologies started in the 80ies of the last century. Very first local yield measurements were made and at the end of the decade GPS was used in first field tests. In the 90ies the main focus was on developing site-specific applications and standardizing electronic tractor-implement communication systems. The last decade was dominated by research on auto guidance systems and a certain reservation by farmers towards the offered precision farming technology. So realistically, there are more questions than answers today, but precision farming now is at the real beginning. To go forward more and widely accepted standards are necessary. Automation has to be extended while unmanned vehicles will gain importance in existing farming concepts. Nevertheless it is now the time to create the real precision farming system of the future with less soil compaction, appropriate crop husbandry, use of alternative energies and driveline concepts, and a web-based system integration.     «

After some visions/expectations the development of precision farming technologies started in the 80ies of the last century. Very first local yield measurements were made and at the end of the decade GPS was used in first field tests. In the 90ies the main focus was on developing site-specific applications and standardizing electronic tractor-implement communication systems. The last decade was dominated by research on auto guidance systems and a certain reservation by farmers towards the offered...     »