| Eli Whitney built the first cotton gin, and that | | | | runs on GPS coordinates, and looks more like the |
| revolutionized cotton farming, it changed everything, | | | | space shuttle inside than anything close to a 1940s |
| forever in that sector. Today the business of | | | | tractor. In fact, once you put the combine in position, |
| agriculture is going very high-tech, very fast. More | | | | just hit go, like you would in a 747 cleared for take-off |
| mechanized equipment, robotic systems, and high-tech | | | | and it will fly the whole trip and land in zero-zero |
| tools. | | | | visibility at the designated airport. |
| The massive productivity increases and crop yields is | | | | So too, will a modern day combine, it can do the entire |
| completely astounding, unfortunately, this also causes a | | | | job in dense fog and tell you when it's done, while you |
| problem for people, workers who make their money | | | | are merely along for the ride "just in case" as you sit in |
| on farms and picking crops - they just will not be | | | | complete comfort with surround a sound music, |
| needed in the future. | | | | air-conditioning and you can even watch the game. |
| This means they may not be able to feed their own | | | | Yah, farming is hard work? Not anymore, never again |
| families. Indeed, I can look back at my family tree and | | | | will it be. |
| before the 1940s my ancestral charts show ten kids in | | | | And just as the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) |
| nearly every family. Why? Simple they were farmers | | | | works on telerobotics, they have high-tech farm |
| and needed the labor, may as well "keep it in the | | | | equipment that can do the same. Instead of a flying |
| family" so to speak. | | | | UAV, it's an unmanned agricultural vehicle (UAV), the |
| Today Dairy Farms have 25 to 35 head of cattle per | | | | military version would be an unmanned ground vehicle |
| employee, the cows rest on water bed mattresses, | | | | or UGV, but rest assured this technology is coming to |
| and robotic stainless steel equipment hooked up to a | | | | a field near you soon. |
| computer milks the cows. Higher milk yield, happier | | | | Interestingly enough, these high-tech pieces of |
| cows, less infection, sounds like a good life to me, and | | | | equipment are also getting harder and harder to |
| that my friends is the future of the agriculture business | | | | maintain, meaning Farmer Joe in the future might have |
| in a nutshell. | | | | a computer degree from MIT. Please consider all this. |
| The modern day combine is over half-a-million dollars, | | | | |