Jason KoeblerMay 12, 2024

Scoop: Solar storm is causing farmers' tractor GPS systems to go haywire. Many have shut down planting altogether during a critical period. A Deere dealer said accuracy is "extremely compromised"

https://www.404media.co/solar-storm-knocks-out-tractor-gps-systems-during-peak-planting-season/

Solar Storm Knocks Out Farmers' Tractor GPS Systems During Peak Planting Season

The accuracy of some critical GPS navigation systems used in modern farming have been "extremely compromised," a John Deere dealership told customers Saturday.

404 Media
Show threadJason KoeblerMay 12, 2024
This is a reminder of how much modern tractors rely on satellite and internet connections. Many farmers can't or won't plant right now bc tractors have been highly automated to increase yield. Rows are planted so tightly together that humans can't navigate them w/o killing crops
Show threadJason KoeblerMay 12, 2024
One farmer called it a "shitshow." Another: "All the tractors are sitting at the ends of the field right now shut down because of the solar storm." Another said their systems that are normally centimeter-accurate were off by 3-6 feet and tractor kept "wandering off" and had to be constantly corrected.
Show threadJason KoeblerMay 12, 2024
This, from a John Deere dealer, is wild. They warn that affected tractors operated during this time will likely have made maps that are wrong, which will be wrong throughout the growing system, and which are wrong in an inconsistent way
Show threadAral BalkanMay 13, 2024

@jasonkoebler Alt text: "Due to the way the RTK network works, the base stations were sending out
corrections that have been affected by the geomagnetic storm and were
causing drastic shifts in the field and even some heading changes that were
drastic," the dealership told farmers Saturday morning.

Highlighted in green:
"When you head back
into these fields to side dress, spray, cultivate, harvest, etc. over the next… (1/2)

Show threadAral Balkan

several months, we expect that the rows won't be where the AutoPath lines
think they are. (End highlight)

This will only affect the fields that are planted during times of
reduced accuracy. It is most likely going to be difficult-if not impossible-to
make AutoPath work in these fields as the inaccuracy is most likely
inconsistent." (2/2)

May 13, 2024 at 10:15amWeb