How has technology changed farming? Technological advancements have played a key role in enhancing the growth and productivity of farming around the world, particularly within the last 50 years or so.
From machinery that can detect when plants are struggling to robotic harvesting machines, today’s farmers have an arsenal of sophisticated tools to ensure that the food we consume makes it from the farm to our plate in optimal condition and ready to eat.
In many ways, this couldn’t be truer than with fresh produce—it’s certainly more convenient than growing your own tomatoes in your backyard, isn’t it?
Farm Tools
The tools used in farming have changed a lot over the years. In the past, farmers had to rely on hand tools which required much more physical labour. There were also not many mechanized farms implements for tasks such as blowing fields or harvesting crops.
Nowadays, there are many new technologies that make it easier and more efficient to farm. For instance, self-driving tractors and other machines are now available for use on farms. As well, high-tech sensors have been invented that allow farmers to monitor environmental conditions and irrigation systems remotely.
These changes mean that farmers don’t have to do as much manual labour and can spend their time doing other work such as interacting with customers or checking up on their livestock instead. With all of these new technological advances, it is predicted that the agricultural industry will grow substantially in the coming decades.
Planting And Seeding
Technology has changed farm work in many ways, from planting and seeding to harvesting. One of the most important changes is that crops can be grown indoors and harvested year-round, thus reducing the need for long trips to different places for seeding and harvesting. Another change is the advancement of technology in crop genetics.
This means that plant breeders now have access to more data on their plants than ever before, including how well they grow in a specific environment, what their yield is likely to be and even how genetically diverse they are. As this technology improves it will allow us to better predict what kind of crops would thrive best in an area.
This could lead to more sustainable farming as it will help farmers be able to produce enough crops without depleting local resources. There are also robots being developed to replace human labour in some parts of agricultural production, such as weed control. However, not all new technology benefits agriculture or society in general.
Recent studies show that by 2050 climate change will make growing rice in Africa impossible because the rice needs a lot of water which won’t be available anymore due to lack of rain. There’s not much we can do about this but figure out other food sources for Africans, so they don’t starve when there’s no longer any rice to eat!
Fertilizing
The use of technology has helped farmers with fertilizing, which is a lot less time consuming than the old way. Old school farmers had to go out and manually spread their fertilizer on their field by hand. This would take up a lot of valuable time and be hard on their bodies. With today’s technology, all you need to do is turn on your computer and load the software program for your specific type of farm equipment.
The program will tell you where to apply what fertilizer or crop protection product. You can then just click a button, hit apply products, and your job is done! In addition, it also helps reduce waste because you are only applying the right amount of fertilizer at the right location.
Watering
The watering system is now controlled by an automated timer. This device can turn the water on and off to the crops or field at set intervals, depending on whether it is daytime or night-time. It can also regulate the time between irrigations, if necessary.
The system may be solar-powered and come with a rain sensor that will automatically shut off the flow of water when it rains. These devices are often hooked up to a weather station that reports conditions such as humidity and wind speed so they can be taken into account when determining how much water to dispense in a given period of time
The technology changed farming because it was easier for farmers to make sure their plants had enough water in order to grow properly. They no longer had to manually check the soil to see if it needed more water. They could simply rely on this automated system. There was less room for human error and mistakes were less common.
Harvesting
The development of mechanized harvesting equipment, including self-propelled harvesters and combine harvesters, reduced agricultural labour. Self-propelled harvesters were developed in the 1920s and 1930s; their advantage was that they could harvest much more quickly than teams of workers with scythes or sickles. Combine harvesters were invented in the 1940s and 1950s.
They could cut, thresh (separate the grain from the chaff), clean (separate wheat from other grains), winnow (remove grain from husks), bundle, and stack all in one operation. One man driving a combine could replace up to 50 men using traditional methods.
Today combines are capable of combining grain crops like corn, soybeans, and rice. In 1957 an electric-powered cultivator was introduced for use on vegetables or potatoes. A major advance in farm machinery came about after World War II when hydraulic systems were applied to tractors.
Farmers today have access to farm software for tracking yields, calculating costs per acre and other statistics.
Processing (E.G. Packaging)
Farming is a profession that never ceases to evolve with the times. Technological advancements have led to new ways of harvesting, storing, and processing crops for consumers.
The introduction of the combine harvester in the 1930s revolutionized agriculture by making it easier and more efficient to harvest crops, such as wheat and corn. The combine could slice through a field of wheat or corn with its rotating blades while also separating out any stray weeds or wild plants from the grain. This made harvesting so much faster and cleaner than before, when the grain had to be laboriously collected by hand.
In addition to being more efficient, harvesting with combines was also more profitable because they could process larger quantities of crops in a shorter period of time. Wheat production tripled within ten years of the machine’s invention. Today, combines are used not only for harvesting, but also for threshing (separating the grains from their stalks) and cleaning (removing seeds from chaff).
In order to store these harvested grains, farmers can now pack them into silos – tall buildings which allow air currents to circulate inside and dry out the produce. Silos keep crops fresh for longer periods of time without needing refrigeration; this way produce can be stored until it is needed rather than perishable items going bad before being processed or sold. Farmers also often rely on freezers during colder months when fruits cannot ripen due to weather conditions outside of their control.
Transportation Of Produce
Farmers markets are popular, but they can’t hold every type of produce. If you want strawberries in January or asparagus in July, you’ll need to find a way to get them from the farm to your table. Traditionally, this was done with railroads, trucks and ships.
Now there’s another option: an airplane. The first farm-to-airplane flights took place on April 1st of this year when two tons of hydroponic lettuce were flown from a greenhouse in Spain to Dusseldorf International Airport in Germany. While it might sound like science fiction, the reality is that modern airplanes are uniquely suited to transporting fruits and vegetables.
They fly just 100 feet above ground so they don’t have to be loaded onto huge trucks which can damage delicate plants; they go fast enough that fresh food doesn’t spoil before it reaches its destination; and their large cargo holds allow airlines like UPS to offer daily service from one country to another.
Conclusion
Technology changed farming a long time ago. When it was in the beginning, agriculture was the process of cultivating plants and raising livestock to harvest crops or pasture. Later on, the process became much more advanced by using technology such as tractors, fertilizers and GMOs. With this, farmers were able to produce a lot more for less cost than before.
There are many advantages with the use of technology in agriculture; one being that it’s easier for farmers to manage all their information through different types of equipment, which can reduce labour costs significantly. Another advantage is the increase in crop yields due to fertilization. However, there are disadvantages too.
A few examples include water pollution and carbon dioxide emissions. As technology changes farming, we will have to deal with some disadvantages too but also take advantage of new technology that could be even better than what we already have now.
