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

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.

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

@jasonkoebler a) A deer dealer? No loss from my pov.
b) planted so tightly together - exploiting the soil untill it becomes unusable. Growth, growth, growth. The sacred cow.

@TonyHill @jasonkoebler These centimeter-accurate planting/harvesting technologies are not just greed in action. People have to eat, and there are a whole lot of us.