If your farm is looking to expand through a land purchase, it’s obviously important to check out factors like soil quality, drainage, irrigation rights, and existing structures. We also encourage you to take a hard look at the technology capabilities a prospective property offers.
Outdated tractors or lack of infrastructure elements like pole barns and 3-phase power can drag down productivity on even the best acreage. The new precision agriculture innovations – from AI-guided smart farm equipment to aerial crop analytics, ground sensor networks, and automated irrigation – can be complete game changers for your efficiency and bottom line.
That’s why progressive growers now weigh factors like machine age and tech infrastructure every bit as heavily as soils and barn conditions when considering a purchase. Agricultural advancement has always come from adopting the latest tools and thinking, and the rapid pace of today’s emerging technologies demands planning if you want to maximize success when scaling up your acres.
As your financing partner, First Financial Bank aims to help build that foundation for long-term prosperity on purchased ground. As a rule of thumb, if key machinery like tractors and combines are more than 10 years old, it’s likely time to budget for upgrades after purchase. The newest systems highlighted in this guide show how rapidly modern technology can transform an operation. We think you’ll get excited at the possibilities after reviewing the innovations that might fit your situation. First Financial stands ready to help you assess the best land you can buy.
Precision Tractor Automation
Newer tractor models boast GPS auto-steering, telemetric data streams to the cloud, and even artificial intelligence to optimize inputs and yields. While such “farm tech” carries higher sticker prices, the efficiency gains often provide a rapid return on investment. For example, GPS-enabled tractor guidance provides centimeter-level accuracy in field passes, minimizing double coverage that wastes inputs and reduces yield potential. AI optimization of hybrid selection, planting rates, and fertilizer can often improve yields. Of course, investing in data connectivity also allows seamless monitoring from your smartphone for real-time analytics and early diagnostics.
Aerial Crop Analytics
Advanced aerial data solutions are another emerging technology rapidly being adopted by leading-edge farmers. Relatively affordable drones equipped with multispectral imaging sensors and analytics can scan your crops every week – detecting subtle variation in soil conditions, moisture stress, emerging pests, or nutrient deficiencies down to one-square meter resolution. The season-long data stream and digital models help guide highly targeted fertilizers, irrigation, fungicides, and more for substantially improved yields.
