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 threadShutterBuggedMay 13, 2024

@jasonkoebler This isn't surprising if you've worked with SLAM systems before. Frankly I'm amazed that it took a geomagnetic storm before their system started to degrade. It must be REALLY robust.

Unfortunately, there's really no good way to get around this. Either don't plant while there's a storm that screws up the broadcast corrections, or accept that the hyper-accurate pathing data you collect on where your seed rows are will be incorrect.

Show threadShutterBugged

@jasonkoebler Maybe they could provide a reset button to erase the incorrect data for the field, but then when you go back over them again later you have absolutely NO aid for where the rows were, rather than a bad one. And it sounds like it'll be reset at the end of the crop cycle anyway.

Sure, you could also just "go without" this entire system too, but it's a MASSIVE aid to farmers that helps them pack more crop into their fields.

May 13, 2024 at 6:00pmWeb
Show threadShutterBuggedMay 13, 2024

@jasonkoebler I would absolutely LOVE for there to be an open-source tractor computer system with an open-source version of this navigation system, and I'd be one of the first in line to help develop it from scratch if anyone starts stripping the guts out john deere tractors.

But I also have to admit that there's a good chance that an open source version would also have the same problem.