Precision Agriculture: An Introduction

gies borne of the information age with a mature agricultural industry. It is an integrated crop management system that attempts to match the kind and amount of inputs with the actual crop needs for small areas within a farm field. This goal is not new, but new technologies now available allow the concept of precision agriculture to be realized in a practical production setting. Precision agriculture often has been defined by the technologies that enable it and is often referred to as GPS (Global Positioning System) agriculture or variable-rate farming. As important as the devices are, it only takes a little reflection to realize that information is the key ingredient for precise farming. Managers who effectively use information earn higher returns than those who don’t. Precision farming distinguishes itself from traditional agriculture by its level of management. Instead of managing whole fields as a single unit, management is customized for small areas within fields. This increased level of management emphasizes the need for sound agronomic practices. Before considering the jump to precision agriculture management, a good farm management system must already be in place. Precision agriculture is a systems approach to farming. To be viable, both economic and environmental benefits must be considered, as well as the practical questions of field-level management and the needed alliances to provide the infrastructure for technologies. Figure 1 represents some of the important considerations in a precision agriculture system. The issues surrounding precision agriculture include perceived benefits and also barriers to widespread adoption of precision agriculture management. The need for precision agriculture