GPS receivers help farmers find exact locations within their fields and then determine whether or not adjustments need to be made in levels of seeding, fertilization, irrigation or chemical application. The GPS system allows farmers to plan and carryout their farming with amazing precision. With this space-driven technology, farmers can go to any part of their farm and apply fertilizer, herbicide or pesticide at a different rate than is applied on adjacent fields. This allows them to maximize crop yields while lowering production costs. Also, by ensuring that only the necessary amounts of chemicals go where they are needed, farmers can be even better stewards of the land and water supplies.
Satellites also help farmers protect their financial bottom lines.
That's not only a benefit for farmers, but for the entire economy of Mississippi as well. Through communications satellites, farmers are able to get news and commodity reports in an instant from our country's major stock exchange centers and advisory services. More profits mean more dollars to spend as consumers, dollars that turn over throughout the entire economy and that add to the tax revenue at all levels of government. While farmers cannot control the weather, they can track storms and weather systems from satellite images transmitted to receivers on Earth. Timely access to weather information allows producers to better plan field operations, such as planting, cultivation, irrigation and harvest, further maximizing the efficiency of their efforts.