Tennessee Tech University Department of Computer Science Blog

When most people think of farming, they envision the quaint, harmonic lifestyle of ages past, complete with verdant, rolling hills and roosters crowing in the distance. The advent of computer science, however, has revolutionized almost every facet of society – from entertainment to business to medicine – and farming is no exception. In fact, the changes made to this field are perhaps some of the most apparent in all of civilization, and this creates a rather unique juxtaposition; farming, one of the oldest disciplines in human history, has transformed into a massive, automation-driven industry, capable of achieving efficiency that, a few decades ago, could have only been dreamt of. Today, we are going to look at some of the agricultural overhauls wrought by computer science (specifically in the field of crop-based agriculture), as well as how they have impacted society as a whole.

It is important to recognize that farming is a complex process, relying on many external variables that must be determined before any progress can be made. One of the first tasks that a farmer must complete is a soil survey – the gathering of soil samples from across his or her field, and the analysis of the nutrient content (nitrogen, phosphorous, and potassium levels) thereof. Afterward, the farmer must procure a mixture of fertilizer that best accommodates the needs of his or her field, so that the crops will grow to their full potential. Before the advent of computer science, soil samples were collected arbitrarily; the farmer would walk to one section of the field, gather a handful of soil, and then proceed to the next section. Then, he or she would concoct a single mixture of fertilizer and apply it indiscriminately to the entire section. Now, thanks to computerized spreading machines (called Variable Rate Equipment), the farmer can input the soil surveys for each part of the field into the machine itself, and the spreader will then apply different fertilizer to each section based on its own individual needs. Rather than Section A and Section B receiving the same generalized fertilizer, the computer remembers the needs of each section, applying different mixtures of nutrients based on the information provided. Furthermore, the physical act of fertilizing is now accomplished automatically by the use of GPS (Global Positioning System) technology, with the operator overseeing the machine simply as a
precaution.

Secondly, the farmer must seed the field. Originally (in much the same manner as fertilizing), the seeding of the field occurred at a standard rate. As the farmer drove the seeder over his or her field, all seeds would be distributed at the same, semi-random frequency. If a malfunction occurred in the seeder, the farmer would not know about it until the end of the row, and he or she would have no way of knowing when or where the malfunction had occurred. Now, seeders are equipped with software that keeps track of the seeds as they fall, allowing the farmer to see exactly how much seed is going over an individual area, notifying him or her immediately if a malfunction has occurred. Additionally, the layout of the farm can be programmed into a GPS that will drive the seeder automatically in near-perfect rows, preventing any human error that could occur in the distribution of the seeds.

As the crops grow, the farmer must have some way of tracking and recording their progress, as well as keeping records of environmental conditions like incoming weather, moisture content, temperature, and pest loads. Originally, this was accomplished by the use of
scouts (employees of farms or cooperatives who would physically go out in the field and record data). Currently, however, the existence of monitoring stations has made human scouts obsolete. These stations are now capable of recording the conditions of individual crops (or sections of crops) in real time, watering the plants only when they need to be watered, and applying pesticides only when necessary – and in the minimum amounts required. The existence of computerized weather forecasting has even allowed farmers to plan ahead based on the predictions of meteorologists, rather than relying on superstitions, moon phases, or printed almanacs.

Lastly, computer science has vastly facilitated the storage of information and the ease of business communication. It goes without saying that, prior to computers, the inventory of a farmer’s equipment, employee numbers and wages, and harvest yields were all kept on paper – a process that was tedious and prone to human error. Now, these records are stored in drives, accessible within seconds and easily updated. Rather than harvesting a single row of crops, weighing that harvest on a mechanical scale, and recording the yield on paper, the farmer can simply utilize machines that do all of this automatically, sending the information to the farmer’s (or farming company’s) computer. In addition, farmers can use the internet to advertise their crops, organize meetings with equipment companies, and discuss their experiences with other farmers, connecting a once-remote occupation to a network of like-minded individuals.

Now that we know some of the changes that modern technology has brought to the field of agriculture, we can better understand how this revolution has impacted our society. Fundamentally, all computerized advances in agriculture are driven by the same desire: to increase the efficiency and output of farms. In addressing this task, the designers of new-age farm equipment have indubitably succeeded, and will likely continue to succeed in decades to come. Farms, which were once small, private operations, have grown into industries of mass proportions, producing harvest yields beyond anything that previous-century farmers could have comprehended. One shocking example is that of corn yield, which is measured in bushels per acre. From 1866 to 1950, corn yields fluctuated between twenty and thirty bushels per acre, while since 2010, thanks to developments in computer science, that number has instead fluctuated between 150 and 160 bushels per acre – an increase of approximately 600%. This boom in efficiency is due mainly to computer science’s ability to precisely pinpoint the needs of specific crop areas, nourish those needs automatically, and report data back to the farmer – all without the need for human intervention. Because of this, crops are often healthier, more plentiful, and more profitable, and the people of our nation rarely have to worry about whether or not the fruits and vegetables they need will be available.

Aside from crop yield, there are other notable benefits of computer integration into agriculture, among which are the decreases in pollution caused by pesticides, as well as the increase in the job market for programmers, engineers, and business officials specializing in farm
equipment. Because automated monitoring systems can apply pesticides only to the crops that need them, and only to the degree in which the crops require them, farmers not only save time and money, but also the environment. Prior to the integration of computer science, pesticides were applied either as a precaution (before the pests invaded) or as a blanket solution (applied to all crops regardless of whether they needed them). Those pesticides would then mix with soil and rainwater, run down into rivers, and pollute local bodies of water – poisoning the fish and other inhabitants and harming the surrounding ecosystems. Thanks to the new method of pesticide application, this risk of pollution has monumentally decreased, although it has not vanished altogether.

Unfortunately, just as computer science has lent countless benefits to our agricultural system, it is also brought with it a handful of unintended consequences. Firstly, while the use of technology in farming has increased the number of engineering and programming jobs in agriculture, it has vastly decreased the number of jobs in the actual process of farming. In the past, a single farmer could oversee an average maximum of around seventy-five acres, while in the present, that same farmer could oversee almost a thousand. The number of employees under the payroll of a farm has also plummeted; most equipment can now be driven automatically by means of GPS, meaning that the operators (if an operator is even provided) are often unskilled and underpaid. Field scouts, which were once an indispensable aspect of all farming, are now entirely unnecessary – replaced by automated monitoring systems. To see how powerfully technology has impacted the agricultural job market, one need only look at the statistics; in 1930, twenty percent of America’s total population were employed in fields of agriculture. As of 2010, that percentage has dropped to less than two percent.

Just as the number of jobs in agriculture has decreased, so has the total number of farms in general, as smaller, family-owned operations cannot compete with massive, technologically driven super-farms. Although farming itself will never become obsolete, many people believe that these small farms will soon disappear completely – forced out by their large, corporate competitors. The reason for this is simple: the amount of profit a farmer makes is dependent on his or her yield per acre, which is multiplied by the total number of acres that the farmer owns. For example, imagine that a new piece of farming technology is invented, and the cost to purchase it is $100,000. This piece of technology increases the efficiency of the farmer, allowing him or her to save an extra $20 per acre. For a small farm of only 1,000 acres, this piece of equipment would save the farmer approximately $20,000 – a mere fifth of the cost he or she would have paid for it. However, if the equipment was purchased by a corporate farm, which owned upwards of 100,000 acres, then the approximate savings would total $2,000,000, which is significantly more than the original investment. This means that most small farms do not reap the benefits of technological advancement, whilst large farms profit exponentially. For large farms, this is clearly a positive consequence, but far smaller farms, it is a truly worrying situation.

Computer science has not merely impacted farming on an occupational level, however; it has also revolutionized it as a hobby. As technology becomes more precise, compact, and intuitive, it can be utilized effortlessly by the general public, resulting in gradual changes in society that might initially go unnoticed. One of the most recent (and, in my opinion, impressive) results of this streamlined technology is the FarmBot Genesis, which allows everyday citizens to experience the modern agricultural revolution. The FarmBot Genesis is the first fully-automated piece of farming equipment that can attend to a personal garden with little or no human assistance. This hardware is furnished with watering nozzles, vacuum-based seed injectors, cameras and monitors for plant health, and even an automatic weed detection and removal system. The FarmBot also adjusts its actions based on real-time weather forecasts, and the entire system can be powered using local solar panels. Perhaps the most impressive aspect, however, is its cost, as the entire FarmBot system can be purchased for less than $4,000. This would allow almost anyone to easily and successfully grow their own crops at home, without slaving for hours over weed-filled planter beds.

In short, computer science has produced massive leaps in our agricultural technology, allowing us to produce healthier and more numerous crops, and although it has come at the expense of certain job markets, the overall benefit it has brought to society cannot be overstated. With automated monitoring systems, GPS-guided farm equipment, and proper forecasting methods, large-scale farming is now easier than ever before. Moreover, as more household-based technologies (such as the FarmBot) are invented, the possibility exists for a future in which each
individual citizen grows his or her own food, without relying on distant corporations. Whatever the future of agriculture may hold, be it a beacon of progress and civilization or a disaster lying in wait, we can be certain that computer science will play a visible and indispensable role.

References:

Hanover, Lorraine. “What’s hot and what’s coming in computer-assisted farming.” Resource: Engineering & Technology for a Sustainable World 6.6 (1999): 44. Academic OneFile. Web. 4 Sept. 2016.

Perry, Mark J. “Corn Yields Have Increased Six Times Since 1940.” Carpe Diem. No sponsor, 19 May 2011. Web. 4 Sept. 2016.

Schilfgaarde, Jan van. “Does agriculture compute?” Agricultural Research 44.4 (1996): 2. Academic OneFile. Web. 4 Sept. 2016.

Strickler, Geoffrey M. Personal interview. 3 Sept. 2016.

“The Impact of Technology in Agriculture.” Invested Development. Intrepid Digital, 13 June 2013. Web. 4 Sept. 2016.

White, Valerie. “Farming with computers.” Journal of Soil and Water Conservation 52.6 (1997): 400+. Academic OneFile. Web. 4 Sept. 2016.