Overview

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U.S. producers face many national and global changes as they strive to maintain profitability and financial viability. Flat prices for timber and many farm commodities, increasing production costs, global competition, and attention to public goods have forced producers to measure, monitor, analyze, and micromanage all aspects of their operations. Precision farming practices, such as site-specific applications of fertilizers, pesticides, irrigation, and herbicides in agricultural crops and improved timber and non-timber management and utilization in forests, can reduce costs while minimizing environmental and ecological impacts. Similarly, properly timed and detailed control of animal care and feeding can minimize expenses and maximize animal growth and vitality. This CSREES program emphasizes the use of data and emerging technologies to synthesize and deliver decision tools that improve profitability to all agricultural and forestry enterprises, regardless of size or ownership.

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In Focus

• Report summarizes dialogue between researchers and specialty crop industry.
• Site-specific crop management is the management of agricultural crops at a spatial scale smaller than the whole field.
• Precise monitoring and control of animals' conditions and needs can improve animal health and welfare, growth and development, reproduction, and products.
• Precision forestry applies a variety of tools to improve forest operations and management.
• Adoption of precision farming technologies has been slow.

Partnerships

• CSREES sits on the Regional Committee on Site-Specific Management (NCR-180), which addresses spatial and temporal variability in crop production.
• Early in 2003, a CSREES partnership with NASA enabled joint agency funding of three new geospatial extension projects, competitively awarded.
• While not unique, a multi-organizational partnership involving CSREES promotes the concepts of global positioning systems and geographic information systems.


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Events

• Competitive Grants Grantsmanship Workshops, Washington, DC/Salt Lake City, UT, September/October, 2008.
• Galaxy III Conference: "Celebrating the Extension System: Strengths, Diversity, and Unique Qualities," Indianapolis, IN, September 15-19, 2008.

Selected Results and Impacts

• Washington researchers use CSREES funds to study the effects of biofuels production on soils.
• CSREES-funded research explores the use of GPS-equipped cattle to increase farm productivity.
• The National Geospatial Technology Extension Network highlights work accomplished with help from CSREES, NASA, and NOAA grants.


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Resources

• "Sensors in Agriculture," From the Ground Up Agronomy News, Cooperative Extension, Colorado State University. A primer on sensors for precision agriculture.
• Precision Farming Journals, CSREES. A listing of scientific journals about the application of precision farming to agriculture and related disciplines.
• Precision Agriculture, National Aeronautics and Space Administration. A precision agriculture research partnership between NASA and university scientists.


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Contacts

Daniel Schmoldt

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