Farm Telemetry

So it seems that Verizon has an ad on Hulu, which is a viable test market for cutting edge geeks (like me). Geeks like me are interested in useful gizmos, not just tech toys. I'd recently learned about farm telemetry being used by vineyards to make better grapes to make better wine. This being California, good wine is a billion dollar industry every year, and the more places that can make good wine, the more money it makes. Lodi, between Stockton and Sacramento, has excellent Zinfandels, not just smelly cows. And the foothills and Lake County are both getting significant vineyards despite never seeing fog traditionally required for the best wine grapes. With proper watering, that is no longer true. Agricultural telemetry makes this possible, and its a revolution.

The thing about this ad that confuses me is these things work with traditional WiFi, so what's the point of bragging about Verizon here? You'd be stupid to pay them to route your data through their network when your own is basically free, as well as more secure since its not connected to the wider internet or susceptible to NSA hacking. You really don't need the complexity and problems if you're just trying to report temperature, air and soil humidity and probably plant fluid concentration back to a computer that controls your irrigation system so you don't have to worry about it.

There are two local companies which use agricultural telemetry. Neither is hiring. One is probably retiring, based on their non-response to my courteous letter. The other is more interested in govt contracts for emergency warning sensors.

Considering the majority of agriculture in this county is black market, I guess I can't be surprised. And if you have to work outside the county, why site here anyway? The smart place is Yuba City, as its full of farmers and farm equipment repair, both orchards and fields, and has the railroads and three rivers to supply water. Unlike the South, all the irrigation is gravity fed, so its also efficient and cheap.

I would not be at all surprised to learn there are garage shops being put together by second or third generation Mexicans that are better and cheaper than the Chinese crap that's meant to fail the first time you use it. Chinese stuff is very contract specific, so a bad contract is a bad product. You have to be so careful working with them, because they will cheat you. A Mexican will take pride in his work and reputation so he probably won't do anything to harm those. You'll get a better product. We really should be buying more from Mexico and less from China if we want things that last. At least until these garage shops get store fronts and start hiring people.

I still think farming should pay more. It could double its farming staff and reduce its financial risk it if paid more, and everybody wins. Automating more processes effectively, to reduce fatigue of farmers and thus save their time and lives would be a huge thing. I'm kinda surprised Google isn't sticking their nose into robot tractors but they're probably waiting for some kind of safety system that will detect obstacles so the tractor won't eat your dog or sheep or something. In context, driving a car with a robot is easier. However, articulated farm equipment, and its maintenance, are going to be important in the future. Electric tractors charged by solar power already exist and are cost effective in very rural farms where diesel fuel delivery is expensive. If only we had a better battery than lithium...