Posted on Sep 2, 2022
How weather in outer space could cost Midwestern farmers $1 billion
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New research shows how increasingly intense solar flares could disrupt the GPS satellite connections that have made Kansas farms more efficient.
HAYS, KANSAS — Kansas farmers battered by drought and heat now have more weather to worry about — in outer space.
An expected surge in solar flares over the next several years will likely send massive bursts of radiation hurtling toward our atmosphere. And that would threaten satellite signals.
That matters to farmers because much of the technology that has made modern farms increasingly efficient relies on those satellites, particularly global positioning systems, or GPS.
So even just a short time without GPS could come with a steep cost for Midwestern farmers.
HAYS, KANSAS — Kansas farmers battered by drought and heat now have more weather to worry about — in outer space.
An expected surge in solar flares over the next several years will likely send massive bursts of radiation hurtling toward our atmosphere. And that would threaten satellite signals.
That matters to farmers because much of the technology that has made modern farms increasingly efficient relies on those satellites, particularly global positioning systems, or GPS.
So even just a short time without GPS could come with a steep cost for Midwestern farmers.
How weather in outer space could cost Midwestern farmers $1 billion
Posted from kcur.org
Space
Science
Farming
Agriculture
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 5
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel It's like keeping a spare tire and jack in the back of your car. Even if you don’t anticipate getting a flat tire each time you go for a drive, you know it’ll happen eventually. And when it does, you want to be ready.
“We cannot control solar activity as humans,” Griffin said. “But what we can do is try to make a plan.”
“We cannot control solar activity as humans,” Griffin said. “But what we can do is try to make a plan.”
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
SGT (Join to see) "Supposedly" "You would Think" I Know about Such Things! "Officially" I was doing Research into "Radio Wave Propagation" in West Virginia, Or was that Just a Cover Story, Unclassified Mission Statement?
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OK here s the thing. youcan still farm without GPS...We do it. We have old tractors and still make a good solid crop. Is it ideal in todays world, no but you can still do it...you just have to go back to old school and watch what you are doing versus letting a dang computer do it for you!
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth But the Graphics on the New Stuff is "So Cool!" LOL!
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Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel - yep...so cool and SO EXPENSIVE. A farmer friend of mine bought a new tractor a couple years back...his just finally died. This thing after the land coords are loaded will literally drive itself, turnoff spray booms if they have overlapped rows, has a mini fridge for lunch and drinks, and get this...one night he was sitting in his house getting ready fro be and got a text from his tractor telling him he left a light on...another time he got a text from the dealerhsip scheduling an oil change due to the hours used and would send a technician out. I have to listen to my tractors, monitor the gauges, and watch overlap. To me that is farming but I do get the efficiency thing especially on mega farms.
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MAJ Roland McDonald
Lt Col Scott Shuttleworth why didn't the tractor just turn the light out?.......oh right another 32 lines of code....that will 10k more in cost..... lol
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Farming is just one of many industries that are affected by the effects of solar flares. Hopefully the tech safeguards keep up to the safeguard requirements
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
CSM Chuck Stafford Hopefully! Not Many are Experienced in "Old School" Technology anymore. Bet I could still fire up an R-390 and Even with Arthritis starting to Show it's Ugly Face, Bet I could still make a Mod 28 TTY Sing!
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CSM Chuck Stafford
PO1 William "Chip" Nagel -reliance on "Chip" technology - no pun intended - is definitely a weakness in our society, which is increasingly losing the knowledge to do tasks in an analog manner
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