Solar Storms are disrupting farmer GPS systems during critical planting time
by Wes Davis from The Verge - All Posts on (#6MR8W)
Image: John Deere The solar storms that have been wowing people with the Northern Lights across the United States the last two nights have also been disrupting GPS satellites, crippling some Midwest farmers' operations, reports 404 Media. The issues have forced many to stop planting just as a crucial planting deadline for corn farmers approaches.
The storms reportedly knocked some GPS systems" offline temporarily, which messed with the accuracy of Real-Time Kinematic" (RTK) systems. Tractors from John Deere and other brands use RTK for centimeter-level positional accuracy" when carrying out farming work like crop-planting or fertilizing, 404 Media writes.
The extremely compromised" systems caused drastic shifts in the field and even some heading...