BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) – Technology has changed the way we do almost everything.
We work and learn differently now, thanks to high-speed internet, laptops and mobile phones. Technology keeps us connected to friends and family around the world.
Advances in technology have even changed the way farmers do their work. Temperature and humidity sensors, aerial imagery and GPS technology help make farming more profitable, more efficient and safer.
But every now and then it’s fun to look back at how things used to be.
That’s exactly what the Coleman brothers did when they finished their spring planting.
Curt Coleman is in the final stages of spring planting. Technology makes his job a little easier.
“It takes a lot of guesswork,” he said.
Thanks to some high-tech equipment, he can plant a detailed corn maze.
Curt and his brother Clark use this technology to plant all their fields. Both remember the days before all those monitors took up space in the tractor cab. In fact, they remember tractors without a cab.
“This is actually a corn planter that I started planting corn and sunflowers with back in the 1980s,” Clark said, pointing to the old tractor and planter. “This is the exact setup I used.”
This four-row 36-inch planter wasn’t exactly state-of-the-art at the time.
“It was old in the eighties!” Clark laughed.
On this day, Clark plants two acres of sweet corn with this old machine. The Colemans enjoy using this 24-row and 30-inch planter to plant their crops faster and more efficiently.
“It’s a pretty big difference,” Clark said.
But starting up that old equipment reminded them of how farming has changed.
“When we had agricultural equipment like this, there were many more farmers in the countryside. I mean, it was just a bigger community,” Clark said.
“I’m old enough that new technology scared me when it first came out, but once I got used to it, I wouldn’t farm without it,” added Curt.
Keeping up with ever-changing technology is a new challenge for farmers. But it’s a challenge the Colemans are happy to take on.
“Technology is great,” Curt said.
Because they know, this state-of-the-art technology has made their work a little easier and their farm a little more profitable.
The sweet corn that Clark planted with this old equipment is a new feature of the Coleman Corn Maze. They hope to offer a pick your own sweet corn weekend in the fall along with the corn maze.
You can follow the progress on their website www.djcolemanfarms.com and also on Facebook and Instagram – just search for Coleman Corn Maze.
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