Changes in Agriculture over the last 20 Years
In the past twenty years agriculture has changed in several different ways. For instance with the GreenStar system from John Deere you can operate the machine without worrying about overlapping. This removed the need for markers on implements which in turn made it possible for larger equipment to be able to go over more ground in less time. Also the guidance system along with greater accommodations in the cab of equipment made driver fatigue a thing of the past. Also like I said the overlapping cut out because the satellite guidance is accurate down to one inch, which is great. Say you were cutting beans with a 35 foot header which is huge and you over lap 2 feet every pass. Well that doesn't seem much but over 5,000 acres it's a lot of extra passes, and in farming time equals money.?
Also there are new modified crops that are grown to withstand drought, diseases and pests. Everything we plant nowadays the seed comes coated in pesticide, and fungicide to help it survive until the plant emerges. Also, a new thing in cotton is called layby cotton. Now, in the past you could only spray herbicide over the top of cotton only twice in its growth cycle, after that it would start to kill the cotton itself. What that means is after you spray over the top twice the only way to kill weeds after that is to come in with hooded sprayers which keeps the chemical under the plant and this takes time, because you only do 6 or 12 rows at a time instead of when your over the top spraying you can carry up to 48 rows at a time. That's the reasoning behind the name layby cotton, because you can take about a week or two during the growth cycle and not have to worry about the weed getting taller than the plant and not being able to kill it.
There are now different types of tractors and there are even tractors that have cabs on them and have air conditioning and radios in them. Back years ago the tractors the farmers had to use were very slow, inefficient, and had no cabs. Now a days they are faster and have cabs on them. The cabs vary in size and what they have in them.
There are fewer farms nowadays but they are larger in size. This is because of the prices on everything is up, and the small time family farmer just can't get by anymore, they cannot afford the feed and supplies it takes to keep their farms up and running so they are forced to sell and find a different source of income.
There have been many changes in agriculture over the years some have been good some have not. The economy has hurt agriculture just like it has all the other industries in the world. This was how I believe agriculture has changed in the past twenty years.
Brittany Munday
Ripley High School FFA
In the past twenty years agriculture has changed in several different ways. For instance with the GreenStar system from John Deere you can operate the machine without worrying about overlapping. This removed the need for markers on implements which in turn made it possible for larger equipment to be able to go over more ground in less time. Also the guidance system along with greater accommodations in the cab of equipment made driver fatigue a thing of the past. Also like I said the overlapping cut out because the satellite guidance is accurate down to one inch, which is great. Say you were cutting beans with a 35 foot header which is huge and you over lap 2 feet every pass. Well that doesn't seem much but over 5,000 acres it's a lot of extra passes, and in farming time equals money.?
Also there are new modified crops that are grown to withstand drought, diseases and pests. Everything we plant nowadays the seed comes coated in pesticide, and fungicide to help it survive until the plant emerges. Also, a new thing in cotton is called layby cotton. Now, in the past you could only spray herbicide over the top of cotton only twice in its growth cycle, after that it would start to kill the cotton itself. What that means is after you spray over the top twice the only way to kill weeds after that is to come in with hooded sprayers which keeps the chemical under the plant and this takes time, because you only do 6 or 12 rows at a time instead of when your over the top spraying you can carry up to 48 rows at a time. That's the reasoning behind the name layby cotton, because you can take about a week or two during the growth cycle and not have to worry about the weed getting taller than the plant and not being able to kill it.
There are now different types of tractors and there are even tractors that have cabs on them and have air conditioning and radios in them. Back years ago the tractors the farmers had to use were very slow, inefficient, and had no cabs. Now a days they are faster and have cabs on them. The cabs vary in size and what they have in them.
There are fewer farms nowadays but they are larger in size. This is because of the prices on everything is up, and the small time family farmer just can't get by anymore, they cannot afford the feed and supplies it takes to keep their farms up and running so they are forced to sell and find a different source of income.
There have been many changes in agriculture over the years some have been good some have not. The economy has hurt agriculture just like it has all the other industries in the world. This was how I believe agriculture has changed in the past twenty years.
Brittany Munday
Ripley High School FFA
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