This article appeared in “Onion World,” September/October 2002

Ogden, Utah - While it has long been known that the Global Positioning System (GPS) technology would revolutionize farming and agriculture practices, finding a practical and economical way to adopt it has required a significant financial investment.

Not so today, according to the country’s first National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) land/space geospatial extension specialist. Speaking July 18 during the National Onion Association’s (NOA) Summer Regional Convention in Ogden, Utah, Dr. Phil Rasmussen with Utah State University (USU) said GPS equipment can now be purchased for under $2,000.

That makes adoption of such technology cost effective for small farmers with tight budgets as well as their corporate neighbors with more money to spend, he said.

Global positioning uses satellites to pinpoint a receivers’ location, Rasmussen explained. It started in the 1970s as a United State military project to help in navigation. However, it quickly became apparent that GPS had an enomrmous potential for helping millions of Americans in farming and other professions. Over the past two decades, GPS equipment has been getting less and less expensive.

In a handout provided through the USU/NASA Space Grant/Land Grant Geospatial Extension Program, the extension specialist listed three GPS options designed to help bring affordable satellite technology to farmers. These were:

Option 1: A single GPS III unit (Cost: $329) - The unit is portable and includes a parallel receiver that can track up to 12 satellites; it is accurate and can take the operator back to any predetermined point within 10 feet; it can help relocate weed patches, low spots or low-growth areas in a field; and it can locate nearby roads, interstate exits and railroads, as well as calculate elevation and traveling speed.

Option 2: GPS unit with a Compaq pocket computer (cost: $798) - This unit can download area or topographical maps and locate selected points on those maps; it shows aerial views of an entire field and helps find problem areas; it downloads books and agriculture guides; and it functions as a portable planner where you can log crop rotations, harvest times, etc.

Option 3: GPS, computer, and licensed HGIS software (cost $1,197) - This package allows a grower to draw boundaries around sections of a field so he can subdivide it onscreen; it calculates acreage and it creates and saves GIS points, lines and polygons.

For more details, contact Rasmussen at philr@ext.usu.edu