The future of farming is in precision

New technology has, throughout history, brought significant changes to the way we farm and RTK GPS is no exception. It brings pass-to-pass, year-on-year precision to within 2cm, a substantial improvement on previous GPS technologies. 

Within agriculture, imagination is the only limit for finding uses for the technology. Variable application rates for fertilisers, automatic sprayer shut down when nearing a water course, hoeing, and controlled traffic farming - to name only a few. Tractors fitted with RTK are self-steering – so driverless tractors may even become a future possibility!

Accurate vehicle operations have benefits for both agribusinesses and the environment.  Precision reduces waste, so fuel savings, increased efficiency in the use of sprays and reduced soil compaction are all realistic expectations. Reducing your fuel use and being more accurate with fertiliser means you're also reducing greenhouse gas emissions from your business - a really important issue in the industry.  

Unsurprisingly, this state of the art technology can be expensive.  The majority of off-the-shelf solutions require purchasing pre-fitted machinery and self-maintenance of the base stations – all barriers for the medium to small agribusiness wishing to take advantage of the numerous benefits.

That’s why in 2009, myself and five other Cambridgeshire farmers founded a business, RTK Farming Ltd, with the intention of addressing these issues.  By joining forces we are able to spread the cost and we have been successful with our application for further funding from the East of England Development Agency (EEDA).

It was great to gain support from industry leaders Bayer CropScience and NIAB TAG, both of whom share our vision for precision farming.  Bayer’s support through the application process has been invaluable and NIAB TAG has been using the technology at its trials site. 
 
We hope to establish twelve base stations within two years, which will cover 160,000 arable ha with RTK GPS signal. AS Communications Ltd can supply the onboard equipment which can be retro fitted to most makes and models. If this is successful more businesses could benefit from the exciting technology.

Edd Banks is a founding member of the RTK group and farms 1200ha in a family partnership at Manor Farm, Harlton. You can contact him for further information on edd.banks@themanorbarn.com.

• Read the Farming Futures factsheet on precision technology
• Watch the Farming Futures film on Controlled Traffic Farming