Narrator In the grand scheme of Feeding America, tools
in the field are fundamental. They make the difference between profit and loss; shortage
or surplus. But today, researchers are mixing brains with brawn in the new machinery of
agriculture. The future is now, and it’s the beginning of the robot farm…
John Solie – Oklahoma State University This is the Green Seeker sensor that was developed
originally at Oklahoma State University.
Narrator Researcher John Solie and his team worked
with N-Tech Industries, a private sector firm, to create the Green Seeker. This smart machine
“reads” a plant’s needs and then applies precisely the amount of fertilizer or herbicide
needed.
John Solie We use sensors to let the plant tell us what
it needs. The Green Seeker shines light at red and near infrared wave lengths on the
plant. That light is absorbed by the plant and some of that light is reflected back up
into the sensor. The sensor measures the amount of light reflected off the plant. We can take
an applicator, drive out in the field, have the sensor look at the crop, make a determination
of what the plant actually needs in fertilizer, and then apply only that amount.
Narrator This is precision agriculture at its best.
The environment is spared unnecessary spraying of chemicals. The savings in fertilizer translates
into cheaper food at the grocery store, and farmers benefit from lower operating costs.
John Solie We estimate our farmers are seeing typically
about $10/acre savings in the amount of fertilizer applied. In fact we’ve had cases where based
on our sensor, they’ve come to the conclusion that they don’t have to apply any additional
fertilizer. So the savings can be very large.
Narrator Tom Denker is one Oklahoma farmer who has
benefited. Working with Extension agronomist Roger Gribble, Tom has used the economical
hand-held version of the Green Seeker on his wheat fields. Tom traditionally used 80 pounds
of nitrogen fertilizer per acre. With the Green Seeker he’s found he can use only
twenty- a 75% decrease.
Tom Denker – Oklahoma farmer It was really a great technology and a great
savings.
Roger Gribble – Oklahoma State University Extension
This is a perfect system for him. We minimize the pre-plant fertilizer we put out. We’re
continuing to educate more and more producers through our programs and demonstrations such
as what we got with Tom. We’ll continue to almost double almost every year, the number
of producers that accept that technology.
Narrator John Solie wants to refine the Green Seeker
for precision farming down to the square foot. He’s found this to be the optimum target
size for sensor technology because nutrient needs can change rapidly within a field.
John Solie We’re not at one foot yet, but we’ve developed
a machine that will work at 2 feet by 2 feet and work very well.
Narrator Once the price of the new technology becomes
affordable, farming by the square foot will become a reality. And the Green Seeker will
lead the way to the farm of the future -- the Robot Farm.