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I’ve been thinking a lot about precision agriculture these days. It’s almost as commonplace as soil health. But is precision a relatively new concept to agriculture? It’s not a new concept to conservation.
Back in April, we celebrated the 84th anniversary of our agency, formerly the Soil Conservation Service, now the Natural Resources Conservation Service. What that means to me is that the idea of precisely managing natural resources such as soil and water to grow crops on farms goes way back.
Modern precision ag tools can help us identify areas of the farm that may be best suited for other uses. We also get information to help us be very precise in the placement of seed, fertilizer and pesticides.
Back in the 1930s, conservationists weren’t just teaching farmers what to do on farmland; they also showed them how to “read” their fields — how to...