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Defining precision agricultureBy Trent Loos All of us in food production often throw out the term "precision agriculture," yet I am not sure we know exactly what we speak of. Yes, of course it does include the eye in the sky steering our equipment but it is much bigger and deeper than that. My first trip of 2012 was to a Land O' Lakes Purina Feed dairy meeting in the Wisconsin Dells, and one presentation hit me like a ton of bricks. The presenter stated that the time of day you feed your cows could influence milk production by 20 percent. Yes, one particular dairy herd had a reduction in daily milk production by 20 percent on Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays. Why? Simply because the weekend feeder was feeding the cows two hours earlier than the guy who fed during the week. Who would ever guess that a cow could be that regimented that messing with her precision would affect her production so much? Furthermore, who would ever guess that we could identify the problem and pin-point that simple solution? That is just the tip of iceberg when it comes to today's "precision agriculture." Come to think of it, I believe this is a story that we need to share far and wide and use it to "brand" farmers today. It speaks to the overall efficiency that has been achieved in today's conversion of natural resources into human consumable products. As farmers we always talk about "improved efficiency." The problem is that people like Shaun, the lady that I sat by on the airplane this week, cannot relate to "efficiency." However, if we simply put it in the context of precision agriculture and then we define it, I believe we could go a long way in creating the positive image and developing the "brand" we want to have. I use Shaun as an example because when I told her I was headed to a Land O' Lakes meeting, she responded, "Oh, the butter people?" Yes, the "butter people" and that brand was acquired through wonderful marketing and promotion by the folks at Land O' Lakes. So how can we brand farmers as "precision agriculture people"? In the dairy industry alone, here is what we know about farmers and their ability to implement precision agriculture in today's world. This information was made possible thanks to a group of scientists at Cornell University, led by Dr. Jude Capper, who is currently at Washington State University. Modern dairy practices require considerably fewer resources than dairying in 1944. With just 21 percent of animals, 23 percent of feedstuffs, 35 percent of the water and only 10 percent of the land we now produce the same 1 billion kilograms of milk. Waste outputs were similarly reduced with modern dairy systems producing 24 percent of the manure, 43 percent of CH4, and 56 percent of N2O per billion kilograms of milk compared with equivalent milk from historical dairying. The carbon footprint per billion kilograms of milk produced in 2007 was 37 percent of equivalent milk production in 1944. To fulfill the increasing requirements of the U.S. population for dairy products, it is essential to adopt management practices and technologies that improve productive efficiency, allowing milk production to be increased while reducing resource use and mitigating environmental impact. In addition Capper has now looked at precision agriculture in the beef industry and finds similar results. Even with 30 percent fewer animals, the U.S. beef industry produced 13 percent more total beef in 2007 when compared to 1997. According to Capper's study, each pound of beef raised in 2007 used 33 percent less land, 12 percent less water, 19 percent less feed and 9 percent less fossil fuel energy than equivalent beef production in 1977. Waste outputs were similarly reduced, shrinking the carbon footprint of beef production by 16.3 percent over 30 years. My friends, results like that clearly define what precision agriculture amounts to in a way that even consumers completely unfamiliar with life on the farm can easily understand. We are using less resources, producing less waste and generating just as much food as we did 20 to 70 years ago. That is something "green" that everyone can support. Farmers need to know and share these facts with their city cousins, tell the story of their family operations and work on getting that positive "brand" of a great food producer stamped on the backs of producers and in the minds of our consumers. So get your cows fed on time and let's heat up that branding pit and get this image imprinted. Editor's note: Trent Loos is a sixth generation United States farmer, host of the daily radio show, Loos Tales, and founder of Faces of Agriculture, a non-profit organization putting the human element back into the production of food. Get more information at www.FacesOfAg.com, or email Trent at trent@loostales.com.
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