National Future Farmer

Satellite images of Earth are helping predict crop yields
and Identify growing problems early. It's . .
.
Advice from Above
EVERY night, in homes across the U.S.,
people watch the local TV weatherman
point to cold fronts and swirling
winds on a wall-sized image of North
America. This picture that helps us
understand the weather has only been
available since the advent of satellites
and their ability to transmit pictures
back to us.
Crop producers, ranchers, commodity
traders and others are now beginning
to harness some of the same space technology
to help them make better, more
accurate decisions. They are using Landsat
satellite images to examine such production
variables as crop vitality, insect
infestations and freeze damage.
Remote Sensing
The Landsat satellites orbit the Earth
at an altitude of 705 kilometers. Their
orbits are synchronized with the sun so
they pass each point on the planet at
about the same time each day.
The pictures, such as the one on the
facing page, are called images because
they're not photographs. TTiey're really a
computer's color-enhanced reproduction
of what the satellite's radio-wave sensors
have recorded while passing over a par-
ticular spot. TTie entire process is referred
to as "remote sensing."
As the satellite repeatedly passes over
a region, recording changes in growth
and other conditions, a producer can
compare the images and decide if there
are problems that need to be addressed.
Down to Earth llses
Oregon farmer Frank Lamb is already
using remote sensing to more accurately
predict potato yields in the Columbia
River Basin. Lamb grows more than
Center-pivot irrigation systems create
the multi-shaded circles in this Landsat
image of the Garden City, Kansas, area.
The unharvested winter wheat crop
appears in gray, both in the irrigated circles
and squares on this composite map.
Plowed ground appears black.
February-March, 1987
2,800 acres of potatoes in the area. With
a high value specialty crop such as potatoes,
advance knowledge of market con-
ditions can lead to sizable profits.
For example, at early harvest time in
1983, potatoes were selling at $80 per
ton. Ninety days later the price had risen
to $ 1 30 per ton because of low yields and
poor quality. Lamb said that such a
market fluctuation means a $750,000 difference
in revenues.
In cooperation with other producers
and a local processor. Lamb has formed
a company, Cropix, to monitor plant
conditions and estimate field acreages in
the valley. Although he has been generally
pleased with the information. Lamb
says the cost is still a bit steep ( 10 images
a year at $665 per image) and the turnaround
time is not as fast as he'd like it to
be. It now takes two weeks for the information
to be processed for Lamb's use.
TTie satellite technology is also being
used in Arizona to catch violators of the
state's water laws. Since Arizona is such
an arid state, some farmers have irrigated
more than their allotment to increase
yields. By purchasing Landsat
images four times a year, Arizona's
Water Resources Department can pinpoint
an illegal field of crops anywhere in
the state. Getting caught means paying
up to $10,000 a day in fines.
Remote sensing is not limited to agricultural
data and irrigation spying. It is
being used widely in geology and monitoring
the effects of urban sprawl on
rural and forested areas. Charting maps
where land surveying is impossible has
been a popular use of the technology.
Like any new technology, it will be a
while before remote sensing will be cost-
effective for most producers. But in the
meantime, you may want to keep an eye
on it—since it's keeping an eye on
you.
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