10-24 NWR Precision ag profitability

This is your Northwest report for Monday, October 24th, I'm David Sparks and a prevailing question is: Do the technologies and techniques related to precision agriculture translate into greater profitability? A recent USDA study addressed this question. Here is Economist David Schimmelpfennig: "GPS soil and yield mapping have the highest positive impact on profits, almost 2%, guidance as a 1.5% impact on profit." Schimmelpfennig says the study points to farm size and how precision ag tech was adopted on a farm as influences on production costs. He adds that the use of GPS mapping, guidance systems and variable rate technologies all impact net returns to some degree. "The net returns that include overhead are slightly lower for all three technologies because the overhead expenses are in there." Other findings include significant variance of precision agriculture tech adoption rates by growers.

Elsewhere, The Western Energy Alliance has offered support for the Bureau of Land Management's transition to online sales for oil and natural gas leases on public lands, saying the protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and other projects justify the move.

There's no question the agricultural economy is suffering through a down cycle of low commodity prices and high input costs. Ann Berg, Assistant Vice President of Badgerland Financial, said there are some things farmers should be doing to give themselves the best chance of making it through these tough times. One strong suggestion, proactively communicate with your lender.