In the old days, farmers planted by the moon. Now they have moved on to satellites.

GPS-guided tractors are helping farmers plant, cultivate and harvest with unprecedented precision, allowing them to get more yields with less fertilizer, pesticides and fuel.

The technology was introduced to American farmers around 2000, but it has taken root in Central Texas only in the past few years, according to vendors at this week’s Blackland Income Growth Conference at the Extraco Events Center in Waco.

Michael Welch, of Troy, looks over a tractor with a GPS unit on Tuesday at the Blackland Income Growth Conference.
Jerry Larson / Waco Tribune-Herald

“Five years ago, I’d say less than 1 percent of farmers around here had it,” said Justin Lehrmann, sales representative at Wylie Sprayers in Hewitt. “Now, I’d say of full-time farmers it’s about 70 percent.”

The two-day conference, which celebrated its 50th anniversary this year, showcased modern farming technology and offered seminars on everything from Earthkind gardening to predator control.

The event Tuesday and Wednesday was sponsored by the Texas AgriLife Extension Service and the Greater Waco Chamber of Commerce.

Shane McLellan, McLennan County extension agent, said the GPS-guided equipment was among the hottest technologies at the conference, though it has taken awhile for local farmers to embrace it.

Equipment vendors at the show said that is changing quickly as the price of GPS decreases and its sophistication and ease of use increase. Larger tractors now come wired for GPS, and a system costs anywhere from $1,500 to $16,000.

Lerhmann said the systems quickly pay for themselves, saving up to 13 percent in input costs and allowing farmers to minimize weather risks by planting and harvesting more quickly.

Michael Welch, of Troy, who farms corn, wheat, cotton, hay and cattle, said he switched to GPS navigation about five years ago.

He said the onboard satellite-linked computer takes the guesswork out of where to drive the tractor.

“The initial cost is expensive, but you save so much money on time, fuel, seed and fertilizer, because you’re eliminating overlap,” said Welch, who attended the Blackland conference this week. “Without GPS, you’re constantly looking in front and behind you. You may overlap a foot or 5 feet. If driving a big sprayer 25 miles an hour with a 95-foot boom, you can’t tell where you’ve been before.”

Welch estimates that he saves about 10 percent on crop inputs by eliminating that overlap. He said an acre of corn typically costs more than $100 in fuel, seed, chemicals and fertilizer costs.

Central Texas terrain

Mark Sawyer, a hay forage specialist representing New Holland Inc. at the show Wednesday, said GPS has been popular for years in areas with huge, flat fields, such as the American Midwest and South Texas.

But Central Texas tends to have smaller, irregularly shaped fields, often with rolling hills or manmade terraces that were a challenge for early GPS navigation systems.

That has changed as the systems have evolved, Sawyer said. Now a farmer can drive a tractor freehand on tricky terrain on the first pass, and the GPS will follow that pattern automatically on the next pass, he said.

Those advances have made GPS more useful to smaller farmers, he said.

“If you have more than 700 acres, you’re throwing your money away not to have it,” Sawyer said.

Also, GPS technology increasingly allows farmers to micromanage their fields when it comes to seeding and fertilizing, Sawyer said.

For example, a farmer could use an onboard computer system to track and map yields for each square foot of a field during harvest. In the spring, low-performing areas could get more fertilizer, or be skipped entirely if they are too low-lying for effective planting.

The GPS mapping systems also allow farmers to pinpoint hazards, such as big rocks, holes or creeks. When the tractor arrives at the hazard, it lets out a warning beep.

Lehrmann said that is especially important in today’s farming world, where planting and harvesting often continue 24 hours a day.

He said GPS navigation is an example of how high-tech farming has become.

“It’s changing so fast, it’s hard to keep up,” he said.

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