Old MacDonald Has New Tech Tractor spraying pesticides on a soy field Farming's relationship with technology dates back to the Stone Age. Over ten thousand years ago, the earliest farmers designed stone tools that dramatically improved their ability to produce food. Since then, farmers have invented irrigation systems, horse-drawn plows, mechanical reapers, and gas-powered tractors, all while feeding a growing and increasingly interconnected global population. Today's farmers continue to look for new and better ways to farm by utilizing high-tech tools that allow them to produce more food while using fewer resources. The practice of implementing these new technologies, referred to as "smart agriculture," is revolutionizing food production. Some tools used in smart agriculture rely heavily on data from satellites. Satellites allow farmers to track weather systems and to see how the weather has impacted their crops. In the past, farmers relied on their own senses, historical patterns, and perhaps a farmer's almanac to determine when to plant seeds, water crops, or start the harvest. Today's farmers have an advantage over farmers of the past. They often have electronic weather monitoring stations in their fields. These small weather stations use sensors to collect and analyze data on temperature, rainfall, humidity, and wind. A large farm might have several weather stations that send data over the internet. Computer programs can combine this data with predictive weather modeling to make pinpointed decisions about when to irrigate, plant, and harvest. GPS technology, which also relies on satellites, allows tractors and other machines to navigate through the fields, even without drivers. In addition to utilizing driverless technology, smart agriculture often involves other types of autonomous machines that use artificial intelligence (AI). These machines can be used to plant seeds, thin overcrowded crops, remove weeds, and even bring in the harvest all on their own. They do so in part by using specialized optical sens