Farmers from Alabama and neighboring states keen on earning more by using less will have the chance to learn how at a precision agricultural field day scheduled Thursday, July 10 in northwest Alabama.

When Martin Barbre got his first look three years ago at a system that would drive his tractor for him, he didn't buy the device -- or the premise that it would cut costs on his farm.

"When they first came out with them and we first looked at it, it seemed like a fancy gadget," said Barbre, a 53-year-old who grows corn and soybeans in southern Illinois.

But with the cost of fuel, seeds, fertilizer and just about everything else it takes to grow his crops rising fast, Barbre quickly came around after he started using the global positioning system to drive his tractor a year and a half ago. "As soon as we used it, we realized the benefits," he said.

Beginning May 16, life may get easier for the growing number of Alabama farmers who are adopting precision agriculture methods to maintain their competitive edge in an increasingly global farming economy.

That’s when precision agriculture experts with the Alabama Cooperative Extension System and Auburn University’s Biosystems Engineering Department will dedicate a Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) at 1 p.m. at the R.A. Hubbard High School in Courtland.

Shannon Norwood and Amy Winstead conducted a Precision Ag Update & Demonstration Meeting on January 30th, 2008 at the Tennessee Valley Research & Extension Center in Belle Mina, AL. The purpose of the meeting was to educate producers about the latest guidance and boom control technologies on the market.

Imagine if a firefighter could know the layout of a burning building before entering. Or during a chemical spill, if with a few clicks of a computer mouse, could tell exactly where the wind would carry a toxic plume.

Virtual Alabama, a new Web site created for government agencies only, makes that possible, Gov. Bob Riley said.

This summer, a Chicago, Ill.-based company predicted U.S. corn crop production would eventually decline from USDA’s Sept. 12 crop production estimate of 13.31 billion bushels. This prediction was based not on surveys, ear counts or a crystal ball, but on infrared satellite imagery of U.S. corn fields.

Strong solar flares can cause Global Positioning System, GPS, receivers on Earth to fail, Cornell researchers have discovered.

The broadcast status of the new WAAS GEO satellite "PRN 35" has just been made Healthy by the Federal Aviation Authority. To receive the new WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) signals, the Trimble AgGPS receiver must be running firmware version 3.00.

This document provides an update on the status of the two new WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System) satellites, and describes the Trimble® GPS receivers that are able to use the WAAS satellite that was recently taken out of “Test Mode” and placed in “Normal Mode”.

Ag Leader Technology, Inc., a leading manufacturer of precision farming equipment, introduced the AgGPS® EZ-Guide® 500 guidance system. The EZ-Guide 500 joins the EZ-Guide Plus as part of Ag Leader’s family of guidance systems designed to meet the needs of both growers and service providers.