The solar storm that wowed people across the United States with the Northern Lights over the past two nights also reportedly disrupted GPS satellites, crippling production for some farmers in the Midwest. 404 media. These problems have forced many to stop planting just as a critical planting deadline for corn growers approaches.
According to reports, the storm caused “some GPS systems” to temporarily go offline, affecting the accuracy of the “real-time kinematic” (RTK) system. Tractors from John Deere and other brands use RTK to achieve “centimeter-level positioning accuracy” when performing agricultural work such as planting crops or applying fertilizers. 404 media wrote.
Landmark Implement, a John Deere dealer in Kansas and Nebraska, warned over the weekend that “severely compromised” systems were causing “dramatic changes in fields and even some course changes” for those who continued to sow during the outage. Landmark says AutoPath, the tractor guidance system, assumes that planted rows won’t show up when it’s time to care for them, and that using the GPS system in planted fields may be difficult or impossible when it’s compromised.
The solar storm, the worst to hit Earth in more than two decades, is expected to subside soon, but comes at a critical time for corn crops, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).Willie Cade of Repair.org, a rights-to-repair advocacy group, said 404 media May 15 “is a critical date for corn planting,” which would be “significant” if corn growers are unable to plant the crop by then.
The report also quoted organic farmer Tom Schwartz as saying that the solar storm had halted his planting activities and that the current weather forecast may further delay planting. His farm and others like it use RTK systems to plant crops to the edge of the lane where tractors drive between them, and if the GPS is inaccurate when planting, they risk destroying crops because human drivers “can’t drive” fast enough. or good enoughâ to keep the tractor between rows.
Broadly speaking, today’s agriculture relies heavily on high-tech, often highly automated tractors and other equipment. When failure occurs, farmers often have no recourse because the entire life cycle of the crop is surrounded by technology. This reliance is part of the reason why there is such a strong impetus behind right-to-repair laws now, as farmers want to be able to repair tractors when they break, rather than being held responsible by the manufacturer for doing so.
Geomagnetic storms like the one that affected farmers this weekend are created when plasma and magnetized particles are thrown from the sun in so-called coronal mass ejections. NOAA’s ratings on them are becoming more and more stringent from G1 to G5. The storms that have hit the Earth over the past few days have reached G5 levels.
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) of the United States said that a “severe to extreme” solar storm of G4 level or higher may occur again today. So far, the storm has not resulted in widespread reports of solar storm-related damage, although Starlink has experienced some “performance degradation.” Reuters wrote, while some people on Reddit reported issues with the flight system or HAM radio transmission.
