{"id":12388,"date":"2018-02-22t22:58:03","date_gmt":"2018-02-22t22:58:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dpetrov.2create.studio\/planet\/wordpress\/farming-for-the-future-high-tech-help-minimizes-staff-waste\/"},"modified":"2023-05-24t16:43:20","modified_gmt":"2023-05-24t16:43:20","slug":"farming-future-technology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"\/\/www.getitdoneaz.com\/story\/farming-future-technology\/","title":{"rendered":"farming for the future: high-tech help minimizes staff, waste"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
when people think of the sorts of cutting-edge technologies that are changing the world, they tend to think of atom colliders, elon musk and silicon valley. the popular imagination may think of agriculture as mom and dad with a pitchfork, but today\u2019s nebraskan corn farm is probably the furthest thing from the average arm-chair-futurist\u2019s daydreams of farming reality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
and agriculture has some of the most important innovations in the past 100 years. after all, the world\u2019s population has exploded in the past century. agriculture has had to adapt rapidly to feeding a more crowded planet \u2013 and it must continue to do so.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
a study conducted by the united nations food and agriculture organization<\/a> found that a 70% increase in agricultural productivity will be necessary to keep the world\u2019s population fed in 2050, and meeting that demand is not just a matter of finding 70% more land to farm since most of the land on earth that can be used for farming already is being used. then there are the environmental concerns. the global green caucus worries that this increase in productivity will come at the cost of more water, more land, and higher emissions. add up all these woes and you\u2019ll come to find that we\u2019re placing a hefty bet on that nebraskan corn farm finding a way to increase productivity in the face of environmental concerns and a growing population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n maybe it\u2019s time to take a closer look at this allegedly low-tech operation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n scott mcpheeters lives on his gothenburg, nebraska, family farm, bordered by breathtaking sandhills carved from the earth by glaciers and wind. the farm has around 3,000 acres of row crops. most of those 3,000 are dedicated to corn, and most of that corn goes into fritos. (if you eat a frito chip west of the mississippi, there\u2019s a better than good chance that the corn used to make it came from gothenburg.) mcpheeters is also keen on ethanol, and even serves as the vice chair on the state\u2019s ethanol board. he sings the praises of the biofuel to whomever is willing to listen, seeing it as a path to sustainability and american energy independence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n the corn that comes back from ethanol production is used to make starches, sweeteners and road de-icer. there is talk of making ethanol out of switchgrass, since switchgrass grows up huge and has lots of sugar and could be more sustainable than corn-based ethanol<\/a>. but scientists haven\u2019t developed the enzymes necessary to ferment switchgrass into ethanol \u2014 at least not yet.<\/p>\n\n\n\n