National Geographic Shows Us The Future of Farming

In a new animation series by National Geographic show called ‘Food By the Numbers’, they point out that by 2050 we’ll need to feed two billion more people. The special eight-month series explores the possibility of how we can do that—without overwhelming our planet.

The episode called ‘Precision in the Fields‘ provides info about how farmers are increasingly using GPS-equipped machinery supported by computers that organize sophisticated data on plants, soil, and weather. Termed “precision agriculture,” same as the episode, this system helps them identify and manage variability within fields. David Schimmelpfennig of the USDA Economic Research Service says that farmers have always made informed choices but that access to more data expands their decision-making toolbox.

The video talks about the effective use of weather forecasting apps, agriculture drones, soil mapping, GPS guidance and many other technology as a critical tool for modern farming.