Change Agent: Farm Of the Future

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With time to spare in the cab, Mitchell decided to turn his tractor into a rolling office. In 2002, he established a wireless network for the farm using specialized 2.4-GHz NavCom Safari Network radios for high-speed Internet access. As a result, Mitchell can surf the Web for weather conditions and stock prices and download aerial images from anywhere on the farm. Because the network also provides a mechanism for remote machine monitoring and controlling, he can check on his grain bins to see how the product is drying and even make transfers from miles away. "Last fall, someone came with a load of grain and dropped it in the bin," father Wade says. "The timer for drying was set too short, but from the combine, I was able to change it." Without this system, the farm would have to hire someone to monitor the grain bins, and as Mitchell puts it, "labor is a tight commodity."

The wireless network also provides GPS correction signals for what Mitchell calls his "most innovative work": real-time kinematics (RTK) nozzle control, which he helped develop for pesticides. Normally, when farmers spray their fields, they have to make several passes over the land to ensure every odd angle has been soaked. When they cross a waterway, they have to manually turn the sprayer off and on. "This is expensive and takes time," Mitchell says. With the RTK nozzle, the controller knows where the land has already been sprayed and turns the valves off automatically. Mitchell estimates this cuts by 20% the expensive chemicals he uses on his land and is much healthier for the environment. "It's easy and economical," he says. "I'm sure there will be a thousand on the market soon."

Mitchell, a Jude Law look-alike and an avid skier in the off-season, is still improving his technologies--and he's on a mission to spread the word on how it's done. This winter, he plans to zero in on high-speed farming--that is, making every operation much faster. "We're adding suspension to the machines and improving the algorithms for guidance," he says. "The benefit will be smaller, lighter machines that have less impact on the environment and that are more affordable to family farms."

Despite working with several companies--KEE Technologies, Trimble and Capstan--to develop the sprayer this past summer, Mitchell does not stand to make any money from his innovations. Although he tests John Deere products on his farm, he will not sign a contract or do testimonials for any company. "If something that starts in my head is used, that is absolute gratification--it's better than money." In the past few years, Mitchell has traveled the globe, from France to Japan, giving presentations on how wireless and GPS technologies can help farms. He has also been host to a steady stream of international visitors, researchers, farmers and manufacturers. "Mitchell's farm is like the house of the future," Grift says. "People can actually look at it and make the distinction between a wild idea and a possibility."