THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, August 16, 1996 TAG: 9608160530
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY LINDA MCNATT, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: SURRY LENGTH: 76 lines
Three centuries ago, when colonists first started working the fields of Chippokes Plantation, all they could do was plow, plant and pray.
On Thursday, farmers from four states walked across Chippokes' fields to enter the world of satellites, computers, field grids and monitors.
They call it ``precision farming,'' and, they say, ``Biotechnology makes cents.''
It started in the Midwest in the 1980s, when farmers began using global positioning satellites - the same satellites used by the military, in navigation and in some cars - to divide fields into grids of 2 1/2-acre plots. Each is tested, and a specific quantity of herbicides, pesticides and fertilizer prescribed. Computers track data and provide comprehensive yield figures.
Increasing yield is the ultimate goal, said Brooks Clayville, a Snow Hill, Md., farmer who works with Eastern Precision Services. The company provides the first step in precision farming - soil testing by grid.
``More and more farmers are getting into it,'' he said. ``. . . Profit margins are bigger, and it's better environmental stewardship.''
To use the method, a global positioning receiver and a laptop computer are attached to tractors or ATVs. The equipment tells farmers exactly where they are and how much of certain chemicals the plot needs to maximize yield.
Virginia farmers can get a tax credit for buying the equipment, but a number of companies are offering the support systems.
Lebanon Agricorp of Denton, Md., last year started a pilot program with one farmer, said company representative Steve Reddy. Today, 15 farmers on the Eastern Shore of Virginia and Maryland are involved. Reddy said Southern States Cooperatives recently got into precision farming services.
If they have learned one thing, Lebanon representative Scott Quinn said, it is that farm fields can be hard on traditional computers.
``We were in one field last winter trying to take soil samples, and the temperature dropped suddenly from 40 degrees to 20 degrees,'' Quinn said. ``The computer just froze. And the dust destroys them. We've started using harsh- environment computers. There are no moving parts. They use static electricity to acquire and store data.''
Precision farming already has been put in place at the 1,300-acre Brandon Plantation, on the James River.
Farm Manager Courtney Price said his first fields were gridded more than a year ago, and more acres were added this spring. Price also has had yield monitors put on his harvesting equipment.
``I can get a whole lot of information as far as my yields go,'' he said. ``The thing that really amazes me is riding along the field and watching the monitor, and the darn thing goes from 80 bushels to 100 to 110. One place had exceptional corn yield when I had no idea it was the best spot in the field.''
About the biggest yield so far, he said with a laugh, is ``paperwork.''
``It's going to take time to decipher it all,'' he said. ``And not everybody can afford it. It's high-dollar equipment. But if we can show the small farmer who can't afford the equipment how he can maximize his yield with only getting his fields gridded and tested, we'll be doing something.''
The precision farming tent was one of the most popular attractions, but about 1,000 people at the event got to see seeds genetically engineered to resist disease and taste cookies made from the leftovers of ethanol, a corn-based petroleum product.
And they got to tour the fields of Chippokes.
But, when lunch was about to be served, the ag types returned to the old ways. ``Thank you, Lord, for our bountiful harvests,'' the speaker said. ILLUSTRATION: [Color Photo]
JOHN H. SHEALLY II
The Virginian-Pilot
Brandon Plantation farm manager Courtney Price gets a demo of
Eastern Precision Services' mobile computer from Brooks Clayville.
HIGH-TECH HELP
New Virginia laws allow farmers a tax credit up to 25 percent of the
purchase price (maximum $3,750) on certain precision farming
equipment. A nutrient management plan must be approved by the local
soil and water conservation district and equipment must meet state
specifications. by CNB