How Technology Has Affected Life On The Farm

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The modern-day farm makes use of a lot of different vehicles and equipment. A lot of this has gone very high-tech with equipment able to communicate with satellites in order to determine where water is needed, for example. Farmers use everything from hand tools to combine harvesters in order to plant, grow, and harvest their crops. 

As the Wikipedia page on farm equipment attests, found here, it was during the industrial revolution that more complicated tools and machinery were introduced on farms around the world. Before that time farmers would have to harvest grain by hand by swinging a big sharp blade. During the industrial revolution, wheeled vehicles were introduced which could easily mow down entire rows of grain very easily. 

Before the industrial revolution, it required workers threshing the grain that was picked by smacking it with sticks for hours on end. Threshing machines were invented which could separate the heads and stalks from the seeds which could then be easily collected from the side of the machine. All of this meant farmers didn’t have to employ nearly as many workers and yet could produce more food than ever before. Most work on a farm is done by tractors, including those that are self-driving. They are used to push and pull other equipment such as that till the soil and ones that plant the seeds. While the technology of farm equipment has rapidly advanced at the end of the day these machines still operate the way they always have. A modern-day combines, for instance, still cuts, threshes, and separates grain the same way that it was done in the 1800s. 

This farm equipment, though, has greatly benefited from technology. A combine of today has GPS locators and computer software that can operate it via self-steering. These machines are highly effective at using resources such as limiting how much fuel they burn and how much fertilizer is spread. It is expected that most farms will soon have driverless tractors driving on them. Harvest season is a big deal in Indiana. Most farm equipment indiana is driven on that state’s rural roads which means that they slow up traffic as they don’t move very quickly. This article shares the ways for drivers to stay safe on rural roads when they encounter farm equipment being driven on them. The main things are to be alert, patient, and responsible. 

Indiana has over 14 million acres of farmland. In 2017 there were 92 fatalities as a result of people trying to navigate around slow-moving farm equipment with six of those deaths occurring in Indiana. The rule of thumb is that drivers will see the farmers and their large equipment before the opposite happens. During the harvest season, Indiana officials recommend people leave 10 minutes earlier from home in the morning than they otherwise would if they need to travel on a rural road. Farmers often pull over for people, so they can pass but they can only do so in spots where it is safe.

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