Auburn, October 21, 2002 --- Farmers, like other professionals, are finding a wide array of uses for hand-held computers – such as the iPAQ, manufactured by Compaq -- that can be used for everything from soil-mapping to applying variable rates of nitrogen, lime and fertilizer on cropland.

But could it be they are only scratching the surface?

One agronomist thinks so.

What producers still lack, says Hendrik van Riessen, are scouting/treatment guides that can be carried into the field in an iPAQ and accessed with only the push or two of a button.

Van Riessen, who recently earned his Ph.D. in agronomy at Auburn University, is completing post-doctoral work with Dr. Paul Mask, coordinator of the Alabama Cooperative Extension System’s precision-farming program. Like Mask, van Riessen is keenly interested in how iPAQs and similar technology can help producers enhance their efficiency, thereby cutting operating costs.

Some farm-related electronic books, or "eBooks," already are available via the Internet for downloading onto iPAQs. But even eBooks, van Riessen believes, do not provide farmers with the most effective use of this technology.

"I just don’t see it," says van Riessen. "If a farmer is in the middle of a field reading a book, he’s not making efficient use of his time. There are just too many other things to do."

Speed is of the essence in farming, especially during critical situations, such as pest infestations. What producers need, he says, are not books but "very direct, very quick" guides to a wide range of topics that can be accessed and digested in only seconds.

"A few clicks and you’re there," as he describes it.

This inspired him to begin developing a prototype based on the format he had in mind.

"Using this format, what a farmer could do in the event of an insect infestation is to pull a graphic and quick summary of the pest, followed by other essential information," van Riessen says. "This would include a short description, the damage it can potentially cause, how to scout for it, and when it’s necessary to treat them."

It’s a quick-and-dirty approach reminiscent of the late actor Jack Webb’s famous line in "Dragnet": "Just the facts, Ma’am."

Equipped with such readily accessible scouting/treatment guides, producers would be in a far better position to identify and possibly even treat pests before they caused significant crop damage, van Riessen says. In addition to insects, guides could be developed to troubleshoot other problems, such as foliar diseases and nematode infestations.

Likewise, he says, Extension agents accessing the same guides would be better equipped to provide faster responses to producers.

"A county agent has such a wide range of areas to cover that they can’t specialize in everything," he says. "But using these guides, he can go out and determine what’s taking place in a field without having to worry about collecting a sample and waiting days for it to be analyzed."

One other advantage to this approach, van Riessen says, is that producers could log onto the Internet to download updates.

While such guides are currently not available to farmers, van Riessen is convinced their development is all but inevitable.

Now more than ever before, U.S. producers are looking to technology for ways to reduce operating costs and stay competitive in an increasingly global farming economy. IPAQs and other types of hand-held computers, he believes, will provide producers with a cheap, convenient way to do this by enabling them to carry comprehensive guides into the field – something not possible with laptop computers. And as farmers get better acquainted with the wider uses of this technology, they will increasingly look to land-grant universities to develop the guides that can be used with these devices.

"I think this is going to revolutionize our work," he says, "and not a few years from now, but right away."

In fact, word of van Riessen’s idea already is spreading. He already has shared the technology with a group of small-grain producers in Georgia and plans to conduct an iPAQ technology workshop in South Carolina later this year. He is also working with counterparts in Georgia to explore the possibilities of developing a regional guide for Southeastern producers.