Just Askin’: Technology on the farm – Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette

How many screens are in the cab of a farmer's planter?

Jason Watson's has five, and he said that's typical.

"It's full of electronics," said Watson, who farms near Villa Grove.

This includes:

A screen attached to the tractor's basic controls.

A backup camera, so farmers are "able to know when a car's behind them," Watson said.

The planter monitor, which "is recording all of our skips, doubles, down force, all the things that we need to know to make adjustments to best plant the seed," Watson said.

A global positioning system for guidance. "The tractors are being driven by a satellite signal that's allowing us to stay straight," he said.

An iPad, which combines the planter monitor data with the GPS data and displays it on a map of the field.

All this technology isn't necessarily cheap, and farmers always have to weight the costs and benefits.

"The constant game with technology is making sure that you're benefiting from it enough to afford it," he said. "It's never easy. You want all the bells and whistles, and you want all the gadgets, but it's about understanding what you can do with the information and how that technology can benefit you."

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Just Askin': Technology on the farm - Champaign/Urbana News-Gazette