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.
As AI-driven data centers expand in rural South Texas, local officials and economists debate water use, farmland impacts, and the balance between technology growth and agriculture preservation.
April 21, 2026 10:10 AM
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The Farm Monitor takes us along to see how they’re leaning on technology to improve poultry production.
April 21, 2026 08:00 AM
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As data centers expand across Texas, experts and officials weigh economic benefits against concerns over farmland loss, water use, and impacts on agricultural land and rural communities.
April 17, 2026 02:50 PM
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Missoula lab combines controlled testing with field data to improve wildfire response
April 10, 2026 12:42 PM
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$2 million project tests fogging system to stop the virus in poultry facilities
April 09, 2026 12:45 PM
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Tidal Grow’s Align-N system delivers urea nitrogen directly to leaves, improving nutrient efficiency and boosting crop yields for farmers.
April 08, 2026 02:50 PM
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