Agri-News

Feburary 5, 1999
p. 16

Although we think of NASA as focused on the heavens, the innovations they've created are being used here at home. NASA is moving the private sector into future frontiers by applying the knowledge and technology gained through the space program to the needs of businesses and industries today. For American farmers and ranchers, these innovations are helping to streamline operations, increase production, and improve the bottom line.

To reap results from this investment in the Western states, the NASA MSU TechLink Center in Bozeman, Mont., was created as a partnership between NASA and MSU-Bozeman.

TechLink began its technology transfer efforts in 1996 under a four-year grant from NASA. TechLink serves the needs of the rural western US-Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, North Dakota, and South Dakota.

TechLink concentrates its efforts on natural resource-based (i.e., agriculture, mining, and forest and wood products) and technology-based (i.e., environmental technologies, electronics and communications, lasers, and photonics) industries. Since selecting agriculture as a focus area, TechLink has been working with several area companies to promote their technological advancement.

The following are a few of the clients TechLink has worked with to benefit the agricultural sector:

-Agri ImaGIS, a North Dakota company, is developing applications of remote sensing technology for use in precision agriculture. TechLink assisted the company in developing software to enable it to deliver satellite imagery to farmers over the Internet. This assistance helped the company to successfully develop this software in spring 1998, and it is now providing images of ag land to clients in over a dozen states via the Internet. Agri ImaGIS is currently expanding this service to Montana. TechLink has also begun to help the company adopt recently-developed NASA software to deliver farm-specific GIS (geographic information system) data over the Internet to help farmers make production decisions.

-Precision Partners of Fargo, North Dakota, is a precision farming consulting company. TechLink provided assistance for the company to develop workshops to inform ag supply companies, farmers, and agronomists about the benefits of using remote sensing as a tool for precision farming. Two one-day workshops were held in North Dakota in March 1998. As a result of these workshops, at least five ag supply companies have contracted to provide satellite imagery to their clients. The company plans to hold additional workshops in Montana, Idaho and South Dakota.

-Milestone Technology, Inc., of Blackfoot, Idaho, and Bozeman, Montana, is currently developing an on-the-go grain quality monitor to record protein, fat, oil, carbohydrate, and moisture levels of grain during harvest. This combine-mounted sensor will provide wheat farmers with the ability to evaluate their crop by referring to detailed maps of their grain fields. This information will help them to make the most of their harvest. According to Paul Reep, President of Milestone Technology, "A winery knows the value of each particular wine and labels it as such. If a grain producer knows the varying quality of the product, it can then be sold to a special market." Since protein content varies and premium prices are being paid for high protein wheat, this is technology that provides immediate economic payback to the producer.

The protein sensor will also make it possible to precisely apply nutrients and fertilizers, avoiding unnecessary expense and reducing environmental impacts. TechLink helped Milestone access assistance from NASA engineers on how to improve the durability of the sensor head and is now partnering Milestone with NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center to use the grain quality monitor for climate change research involving agriculture.

NASA MSU TechLink's impact on agriculture continues to grow as it brings the NASA mission to farming and ranching operations in the West. The overall goal of TechLink's focus is to contribute to economic development in Montana and the region by helping companies access the technology and expertise they need to grow their businesses and to assist agricultural producers.

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