Source: NCDA&CS, 6/2/21


Automation in agriculture has revolutionized some of the work on farms, including North Carolina’s 18 research stations. Automated features on equipment can improve accuracy and consistency, from tractors in fields to operations in barns. There’s also a benefit in the aspect of labor because automation can save lots of man hours and essentially do more with less human labor.

These are all important benefits in a world where fewer people are farming but the population continues to grow. So automation has become an important part of the state’s research stations, which aim to help farmers find better, more productive ways to increase food and fiber production.

A previous article (Part One) highlighted how the stations keep moving agriculture into the future with GPS-guided tractors and automated attachments. Automation is also making a difference when it comes to milking cows and feeding calves. The automation in milking and feeding barns helps create better data for research, make work a bit more manageable and improve the way livestock health is monitored.

For more of this story, click here.