Solar Storm Wreaks Havoc on US Farmers Spring Planting

Besides being all over Social Media, the recent solar storms that covered the upper half of the earth with the Aurora Borealis also made it hard on farmers in the US.

  Solar flares compromise GPS, digital planting equipment

According to information from the NAFB, or National Association of Farm Broadcasting, the solar storm caused havoc for many farmers across the country.

Many are engaged in their spring crop planting, and they depend heavily on GPS and other digital programs to ensure the crop is planted correctly. According to the NAFB:

"These outages forced many farmers to momentarily bring their planting to a stop. One chain of John Deere dealerships gave farmers a heads-up that some of the systems in their tractors were “extremely compromised.” They said farmers planting crops while the precision equipment was compromised may face problems when they go to harvest."

One Nebraska farmer said all his tractors were parked at the end of the field because they had shut down, and a South Dakota farmer said his equipment showed his tractor was going in circles, and the autosteer function did not work.

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Part of the reason for concern is due to the GPS and digital issues, these farmers might face crops in harvest later this year that are 'crooked,' have too many plants in one area and not enough in another, or perhaps they were not planted at the correct depth.