Digging Into Technology
This week, our family attended Farm Technology Days for the first time. While we were anticipating much in the way of marketing to big agriculture, we didn’t quite realize how BIG ag has gotten. Literally, all of the machinery on display, acres and acres, was created for ever increasing acreage. Never have we seen machines so large. One particular combine was upwards of $900K. There was a definitive lack in technology for small farming operations, vegetable, dairy, beef, and the like.
New Purple Potatoes
Green Cabbage
Carrots
Zucchini
Cucumbers
Broccoli
Lettuce
Lacinato Kale
Garlic Bulb
Spring Onions
Mixed Tomatoes
Along with all of the machinery was plenty of financial businesses, insurance agents, suicide prevention/health resources, government agencies, and some very interesting innovations. Much of it is too specialized for a vegetable farm, but remote cellular field sensors might be helpful. So might drone fertility applicators. Or perhaps remote control cultivation robots. It’s difficult to imagine ever swallowing the cost of a single one of these new tools.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the event is that it was held at the world’s largest horseradish farm near Eau Claire. The growing techniques for such a specialized crop are fascinating. It can be planted in both spring and fall. There were also some intriguing crop plots prepared the year in advance by UW Madison demonstrating several new varieties of small grain, something we have been considering growing. And a living soil pit with tiling demo in the alfalfa field on which the event was held.
Alas, we are sticking with the traditional style of farming for now. And selling direct to consumer so we don’t have to grow larger and larger each year to pay for the cost of the middle man. We’ll continue to dig through the classifieds for some more old-timers’ equipment like our 1940’s John Deere potato digger and our 1952 Farmall Super C. But it is fun to think about the possibilities and imagine everything technology has to offer to the world of farming.
Until next time,
