Solar storms made GPS tractors miss their mark at the worst time for farmers

Image: John Deere

Farmers had to stop planting their crops over the weekend as the strongest solar storms since 2003 battered the GPS satellites used by self-driving tractors, according to 404 Media. And the issues struck just days ahead of a crucial date for planting corn, one of the US’s biggest crops.
For parts of the Midwest, planting corn after May 15th can lower crop yields, according to the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, particularly as the end of the month nears. Organic farmer Tom Schwarz told 404 Media he chose to delay planting on his organic farm because of the GPS issues but that bad weather in the forecast may delay things further. He said he uses the centimeter-level accuracy of the GPS system to plant his rows so close to his tractor’s…

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