SATELLITE FARMING: Next level of agriculture

On Earth, 37% of the land is used for Agriculture. This portion of Earth has to become more and more productive. This means continuous adaptation of new technological what modern world brings. In automatic irrigation and tractors with computers the technology is easy to see, but one piece of critical infrastructure sits miles away from any farmland. Satellites, especially geostationary ones, are changing the landscape of agriculture.

Farmers with thousands of acre properties often coordinate effective management in their farm. Satellite farming helps them to stay on track to their targeted areas. Farmer gets a machine like drones that is revolutionising big farming, field by field. Its steering is assisted by satellite, it downloads data about crops. Farm manager use data collection devices with GPS for accurate positioning to map pest, insect, and weed infestations in the field. Pest problem areas in crops can be pinpointed and mapped for future management decisions and input recommendations.  It works 24x7 effectively, Drones using infrared thermal cameras and tell to within a square meter the size of a field and where the most fertile or waterlogged places are. The first satellite with the second civilian signal was launched in 2005.

Today, many farmers use GPS-derived products to enhance operations in their farming businesses. Location information is collected by GPS receivers for mapping field boundaries, roads, irrigation systems, and problem areas in crops such as weeds or disease. The accuracy of GPS allows farmers to create farm maps with precise acreage for field areas, road locations and distances between points of interest. GPS allows farmers to accurately navigate to specific locations in the field, year after year, to collect soil samples or monitor crop conditions

Mechanical grape harvesters are at work around the world in places such as the Chablis region of France. Machines are now able to look at the grapes, check the difference between good and bad ones, identify the quality of the crop and its maturity, De-stem the fruit and grade the fruit while it is picking it.

Today, many farmers use GPS-derived products to enhance operations in their farming businesses. Location information is collected by GPS receivers for mapping field boundaries, roads, irrigation systems, and problem areas in crops such as weeds or disease. The accuracy of GPS allows farmers to create farm maps with precise acreage for field areas, road locations and distances between points of interest. GPS allows farmers to accurately navigate to specific locations in the field, year after year, to collect soil samples or monitor crop conditions

Mechanical grape harvesters are at work around the world in places such as the Chablis region of France. Machines are now able to look at the grapes, check the difference between good and bad ones, identify the quality of the crop and its maturity, De-stem the fruit and grade the fruit while it is picking it.

    Fig 2. Photographer: Philippe Desmazes/AFP/Getty Images

There are machines now for just about every crop. They can be used to pick olives, grapes, and tulips. A combine can do far more than cut wheat or rape. It does cereals, pulses, beans, peas, pumpkin seeds, anything.

Satellites have applications for farmers raising animals as well. A device that fits on a collar and measures each animal’s temperature, called “moo monitor”. The monitor is able to detect whether a cow is ill or on heat. It’s very accurate and should pay itself off in around three years. The main advantage of the moon monitor is that it saves time and labour.

 The cost of getting satellite farming is still high, but it is coming down with the rise of smaller systems using commercially-available components. This is opening up a new market for large constellations (multi-satellite systems) and some space companies adopting this approach are starting to see themselves as data providers rather than hardware manufacturers and are offering services directly to farmers.