Ag Geek Speak

GK Technology introduces Surface Shaping and SD Surface (in conjunction with Rust Sales) which offers land managers an innovative approach to field design. Surface Shaping allows for advanced drainage design, giving farmers the ability to design intentional water flow and directionality, above and beyond normal ditching and "land leveling." Kelly Sharpe explains how this new technology preserves valuable topsoil while eli...

Soil is more than just what we see on the surface, on average consisting of 45% mineral components, 5% organic matter, 25% water, and 25% air, with bulk density measuring how much dry soil weighs per volume. 

• Bulk density indicates the space available in soil for air and water
• Sandy soils counterintuitively have higher bulk density than clay soils
• Clay soils typically contain more organic matter which contrib...

Sarah and Jodi continue their conversation about common precision agriculture issues encountered during spring planting, focusing on field boundaries, controller settings, and troubleshooting variable rate applications.

• Field boundaries matter critically for prescription applications – without proper mapping, sections of equipment may shut off unexpectedly
• Prairie Pothole regions require special boundary considerat...

NDVI (Normalized Difference Vegetative Index) helps farmers detect how green and/or productive different areas of their fields are by measuring the ratio of near-infrared to red light reflected from plant canopies. This technology creates reliable productivity zone maps when analyzed consistently over multiple growing seasons, enabling targeted input management across variable field conditions.

In this Tiny Byte Sarah and Jodi cover...

Sarah and Jodi reflect on the fast-paced spring planting season of 2025, sharing their experiences supporting customers with ADMS software and troubleshooting common prescription issues while managing rapidly changing field conditions.

Situations and questions they cover: 
• When to dissolve prescriptions during the export process to optimize controller compatibility
• Understanding the difference between hard brea...

Using the correct UTM (Universal Transverse Mercator) zone is crucial when working with GIS data mapped to a UTM zone. We explain how projections work to translate locations from Earth's spherical surface to flat maps, and why UTM zones are critical for accurate agricultural mapping.

• UTM divides Earth into 60 zones, each six degrees of longitude wide
• UTM choice errors cause maps to appear in completely wrong l...

Travis Yeik joins us for part two of our deep dive into the interaction of artificial intelligence and humans in agriculture, exploring current applications and future possibilities of this transformative technology in farming.

We chat about... 

• Weather forecasting is already utilizing AI to provide crucial planning information to farmers
• Precision agriculture applications include weed identification, disease m...

Precision agriculture focuses on treating different parts of a field according to their unique yield potential instead of applying the same approach everywhere. Variable rate applications start with establishing realistic yield goals for different areas within a field based on their consistent performance patterns.

In this episode, Sarah and Jodi discuss:

• Using historical yield data to determine which areas consisten...

We explore the future of human decision-making in precision agriculture and the role artificial intelligence might play in supporting – not replacing – farmers.

• Travis Yeik brings unique perspective from his background in farming, agronomy, and software development
• AI has existed since the 1950s but recent advances in computing power and algorithms have accelerated development
• Farmers must make complex decisi...

We tackle a common technical prescription writing question in this Tiny Byte: what does it mean to place a prescription on the root of a drive and why does it matter. Understanding this simple concept can solve many frustrating issues when loading prescriptions onto different monitors.

• The "root" of a drive is the main directory—the blank space you see when first opening the drive
• Different farm equipment...

Hudson Fuller, computer scientist and GK Technologies' newest software developer, discusses the upcoming ADMS software updates and his agricultural background while sharing insights into his current projects and future aspirations.

• Working on transitioning ADMS to the new .NET framework after Microsoft's discontinuation of the current framework
• Emphasizes that users will notice minimal differences with th...

We explore the fundamentals of digital storage and how it powers precision agriculture, covering basic bytes to the massive petabyte servers at GK Technology that store agricultural imagery and data.

• A byte equals eight binary bits and typically represents a single character or piece of data in computer language
• Digital storage units progress from kilobytes (thousand) to megabytes (million) to gigabytes (billion) t...

Hudson Fuller, GK Technology's newest full-time employee and computer science graduate, shares his journey from baseball player to agricultural data specialist working on the ADAPT standard integration.

• Hudson's connection to GK began through family ties and company retreats before pursuing internships during college
• Completed a computer science degree at Dakota State University while playing college base...

Plant tissue testing offers farmers and consultants valuable insight into crop nutrient status and helps diagnose field issues when properly conducted. We explain the science behind tissue testing and share practical tips for getting actionable results.

• Tissue testing can help to evaluate nutrient status to understand crop health at various growth stages
• Troubleshoot field issues by comparing samples from healthy a...

We continue our conversation this week with precision ag geek Shawn Kasprick of Simplot. Shawn shares how precision agriculture capabilities have evolved from floppy disks to satellite imagery, letting farmers see their operations all the way through from farm to field application.

Some topics we cover in this episode:

• Adapting precision agriculture for orchards with specialized equipment that applies fertilizer between rows
• ...

Shawn Kasprick shares his journey from farm kid to precision agriculture pioneer with Simplot Grower Solutions, detailing how early developments in the field shaped the technology farmers use today.

In the episode, Sarah and Jodi sit down with Shawn and discuss

• Shawn's background growing up on a farm in Walsh County North Dakota
• Shawn's educational background, which includes dual bachelor's degrees in Crop and Weed ...

Field boundaries serve as the digital cookie cutters of precision agriculture, defining where field operations begin and end for optimal resource management. Understanding their purpose and creation methods allows consultants and growers to implement more precise applications and better predict input needs.

• Boundaries determine where equipment turns on and off during field operations
• Accurate boundaries help predic...

Kurt Turner and Lane Bothwell from Ag Genesis share their innovative "gridding the zone" approach that combines traditional zone mapping with targeted grid sampling to address pH variability in eastern South Dakota fields. They've discovered that their most productive field zones often hide significant pH problems that can be economically addressed through this hybrid sampling method.

• Field topography in E...

Awareness of nutrient mobility in plants drastically improves in-field diagnosis of crop issues. In this episode, we dive deep into plant nutrient mobility and how nutrient mobility impacts visual symptoms in the field.

• Discussion on the concept of nutrient mobility 
• Insights into mobile vs. immobile nutrient deficiencies 
• Importance of tissue testing for accurate diagnoses 

Relatively immobile nutrients (symptoms will ...