When it comes to the future of farming regular readers will know I have a decidedly 鈥榮cifi-inspired鈥� vision of what is likely to occur.
That future vision has long been a two-pronged one.
The first of those is in the area of genetically modified crops.
While I recognize a vocal opposition exists to the very idea of GM crops, I also feel that opposition is short-sighted, and is arguing a position based on perception and emotion rather than a foundation of scientific fact.
The opposition will not quiet overnight, but a couple of factors suggest it will ultimately lessen.
The overriding factor will be the need to feed the world. As populations grow there will be added pressure to produce more.
And it is likely there will be less land to grow that production on because of urban sprawl, desertification, climate change and other factors.
The result will be a need to grow crops of greater yields, and to grow crops on less than ideal land.
The utilization of GM technology holds the promise of helping on both those fronts.
The other prong of the future of agriculture will almost certainly be in the transition to robot farming.
We have long seen farm machinery get bigger and bigger, and that certainly equates with higher unit costs.
The idea has always been that bigger means more acres 小蓝视频 covered in the same amount of time.
But the machinery still requires operators, and increasingly highly trained operators. Staffing farm operations is an issue, especially if the goal is to keep the unit operating 24/7.
Robotic units will address at least some of the issues. Properly programmed they can in theory rove a field 24/7, with the likelihood long term of a single operator at a control panel somewhere centralized on a farm.
The units are likely to be smaller, and with no operator space, lower cost, although it might be argued more will be needed. That will be an interesting question to see answered moving forward.
The robotic units also hold the potential to be as precise as possible in areas of operation such as fertilizer placement and crop protection product application. That factor is both economically and environmentally sound.
The combination of GM, a field where the potential has barely been scratched at this point, coupled with robotic machinery will certainly change the farm significantly, but the ultimate goal will remain the same, growing food for the world in a fashion where the producer earns a reasonable return.
Calvin Daniels is Editor with Yorkton This Week.
