Technology has been like a helping hand, filling the gaps of labor loss. Scientists with USDA tout the ability to allow farmers and ranchers to be in multiple places at once.
“You can be mapping the plants, mapping their performance, like how big are they, are they under stress, what kind of stress are they experiencing? Water and drought stress - is it nutrient stress? Or you could be quantifying, have you lost plants out there like, do you have less plants just because something died? Then you could also be using that to deliver nutrients or deliver other types of management practices,” said Steven Mirsky.
Technology is costly, and that has been a barrier for a lot of small operations, with some drones, for example, reaching tens of thousands of dollars.
We caught up with John Deere’s Hay & Forage Got-To Market Manager Kaylene Ballesteros to learn how tech is evolving how producers make hay, from baling efficiency to operator confidence.
February 04, 2026 12:38 PM
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Todd Janzen with Janzen Schroeder Ag Law explains the updated ag data use agreement model and what it means for farmers and companies alike.
January 29, 2026 01:25 PM
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Beef x Dairy cattle with strong genetics and documentation are earning prices comparable to native feeders.
January 29, 2026 08:00 AM
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Greater transparency into USDA-backed lending can help rural lenders and producers better assess credit availability and investment trends.
January 28, 2026 07:00 AM
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New Resource Makes It Easier for People to Access Data on Rural Development funded Projects in Rural Communities
January 19, 2026 11:50 AM
CoBank Knowledge Exchange’s Jeff Johnston shares the group’s positive perspective on expanding data centers into rural areas and weighs the risks and rewards for those communities.
January 16, 2026 01:44 PM
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