Climate and Economics

The Economist recently covered the relationships among climate change, agriculture, and big data in "Digital disruption on the farm."

Big data--a catch term for examining the massive, available, digital data sets for emergent relationships--stands to help and change agriculture.

Precision Agriculture Offers Exciting Conservation Opportunities for Farmers

High-tech tools help us better understand natural and human-managed ecosystems. —Troy Magney

When I began working with REACCH last year, it was interesting that no matter where I went or who I spoke to, the topic of precision agriculture came up. Not only were researchers studying it but farmers were using it, professors were teaching it, regional businesses were selling software and equipment, and conservation organizations were promoting and funding it. So exactly what is precision agriculture and why is everyone so interested?

Exploring Field Scale Variability with Remote Sensing and EMI Sensors

Precision agriculture utilizes information technologies to modify land management practices in a site-specific manner as conditions change spatially and temporally for optimum profitability, sustainability, and protection of the environment.

Precision agriculture deals with 5 “R’s”:

Precision Agriculture Resources for Farmers

I had an amazing experience this summer! I had the chance to work as an undergraduate intern with REACCH Extension Specialist, Kristy Borrelli. Coming from the city of Chicago, I was in awe of the rolling hills in the Palouse but did not know much about grower practices, much less precision agriculture. Over the nine-week period, I researched precision agriculture equipment and practices in the inland Pacific Northwest.

Precision Agriculture

Integrating Environmental Accounting into AgTools

The AgTools^TM software uses a suite of programs to evaluate the profitability and feasibility at the individual farm level of different management decisions and cropping systems. Integrating environmental accounting into AgTools^TM aims to take into consideration the economic and environmental impacts of agricultural practices at the farm level. The intention is to encourage practices that reduce greenhouse gas emissions and discourage practices that degrade the environment.

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