RELATED SPEECH Greenspan on Agriculture RELATED ARTICLE "The Right Stuff: America's Move to Mass Customization," Annual Report, 1998 (Text or PDF)

Technology
Info-Tech and Agriculture

Technological change is bringing about one of the most dynamic periods in American agriculture. Dallas Fed Economist Fiona D. Sigalla discusses the impact of information technology on agriculture.

We don't talk or hear as much about farming and ranching as we used to because its employment base has declined so much over time. But that decline is a sign of its success rather than its failure. Fewer and fewer people are producing more and more because of astounding gains in productivity. With just under 3 percent of the total workforce, American farmers and ranchers are feeding our country and much of the rest of the world.

Between 1948 and 1996, agricultural labor productivity increased more than eightfold. The number of people fed by one farmer has jumped from 15 in 1950 to 128 in 1995, including 34 outside the United States. Since 1948, agricultural production has doubled, while total input use, including labor, land and machinery, declined slightly.

From the Global Positioning System (GPS) to fiber optics to computer-driven harvesters, U.S. farmers and ranchers use the highest level of technology and are among the most efficient producers in the world. For consumers, this technology means higher quality food at a lower cost.

Today's technology gives farmers with thousands of acres of land the same information and control backyard gardeners have at their fingertips. Each plot of land can receive ample water, seed and fertilizer to maximize yield, without excess. Computers, satellites and microchips are giving farmers better information and making machinery smarter and more powerful to get the most from every input. Technology is dramatically increasing the amount of land each farmer can work effectively.

Today's tractors are easier to use and can do more for the farmer. Tractors have better visibility, including improved lighting systems for nighttime work and sophisticated fingertip controls that allow farmers to adjust quickly to changing field conditions. Farmers are making tractors smarter by equipping them to utilize the Global Positioning System. Originally developed by the military to navigate U.S. submarines, the GPS uses 24 satellites orbiting 12,000 miles above the Earth's surface to calculate a tractor's exact position in the field.

Using the GPS locational device and sensors in the field, farmers can harvest, along with their crops, detailed digital maps of their fields, plotting slope, soil type, moisture, historical yield, and weed and insect problems. Information is collected on portions of the field as small as 18 inches. Farmers use these maps to program computers attached to variable rate equipment that modifies the application rate of all inputs such as tillage, seeds, fertilizer, herbicides and irrigation water. Precise application reduces waste and improves yield. Future innovations will extend the use of the GPS. For example, a computer-driven harvester will use the GPS, wheel sensors and a video camera to "see" a crop line so it can harvest a field without a driver or a remote operator.

Livestock producers are also using computers to get better information about their operations. Computer chips imbedded in the animal's ear can monitor growth and production. A farmer with 5,000 dairy cows can easily monitor milk production and health records, scanning the chip as a cow enters the milking facility to automatically weigh and deliver an individually formulated feed ration.

Computers help producers monitor and respond to weather variability on a day-to-day basis. Solar-powered weather stations in the field can be hooked up to a farmer's computer to relay information about current air and soil temperature, precipitation, relative humidity, leaf wetness, soil moisture, day length, wind speed and solar radiation.

The Internet is increasing communication and business opportunities within the agricultural community, which previously operated in the relative isolation of rural areas. Farmers, agricultural researchers, cooperatives, suppliers and buyers use the Internet to exchange ideas and information, as well as to conduct business with each other. Machinery, seed chemicals and other types of agricultural products can be purchased and sold online. People can search for jobs and employees.

Producers use the Internet to monitor prices quickly and as often as they like. Farmers from around the world can exchange ideas, post questions and get answers about specific topics, ranging from marketing and investing to tips on "no-till" farming.

Computers increase the amount of information farmers can process, from details on day-to-day operations to the latest research on new chemicals or biological breakthroughs. The computer allows farmers to study alternate management decisions.

What are the benefits of more irrigation? Is it cost-effective to apply additional chemicals? When is the best time to sell crops or buy inputs? With improved record-keeping, more detailed cost analysis and more sophisticated marketing strategies, farmers are making better decisions and earning higher profits.

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