Sadly, I was unable to make the Hoober’s field trip because I was working the Bands of America Regional championship however here is what Christian Riggin has told me about the trip. Christian learned a lot about precision agriculture. Some of the emerging technology includes drones, automated equipment, computer systems, and advancements in old technology. Some of the challenges with precision agriculture include educating the public about precision agriculture, tech support, and impatient people who don’t want to take the time to learn about the technology. You need to have a license in order to fly a drone and you have to register your drone so the government knows that you aren’t a spy.

In order to work in precision ag, one should have background in problem solving, patience, understanding the us and function of the technology and mechanical and technician knowledge. According to Hoober’s, precision ag has allowed farmers to be faster in what they do and also be more efficient. This is most because they can place fertilizer and other needed materials exactly where it is needed with the use of technology telling them where it is needed (drones, NDVI, GPS). Christian was really good at driving the tractor and wasn’t scared one bit until he put it into auto steering. Over all, I’m very sad that I missed this field trip; it sounds like everyone had a really good time, and, on the plus side, there was a working bus!