NEWS for North Dakotans
Agriculture Communication, North Dakota State University
7 Morrill Hall, Fargo, ND 58105-5665
December 23, 1999
An electronic receiver strategically placed on the outside of a combine's cab "hears" signals broadcast from the Global Positioning System (GPS), a "constellation" of satellites operated by the United States Department of Defense. A computer inside the combine's cab processes those coordinates while simultaneously recording yield data. Eventually, all that information is entered into a geographic information system (GIS) computer program, which can prepare yield maps accurate to within about 3 feet.
There's no question that GPS and GIS technologies are allowing agricultural producers to generate vast amounts of site-specific information. But when it comes to rental contracts, an agricultural law expert at North Dakota State University says there is a basic question that landlords and tenants should be raising: Who owns that information?
"The landlord and tenant should begin negotiating this issue into their lease agreements. Don't assume it away," says David Saxowsky, associate professor of agricultural economics at NDSU.
In terms of its adoption by producers in this region, GPS/GIS technology is still in its infancy, Saxowsky says, and for this reason, there is no market for the information this technology generates. No viable market means no established value, no set price. He adds, "The value of this information will be whatever people think it's worth, now and in the future."
One benefit, or value, to producers from GPS/GIS technology is readily apparent: site-specific yield data, when combined with results from grid-oriented soil tests, allow pinpoint fertilizer applications based on nutrient type and rate. Other benefits are less obvious.
"What we're doing is using the technology to get the maximum drainage by moving the least amount of dirt," says Gary Wagner, one of the region's early adopters of GPS/GIS technology. He farms near Crookston, Minn., with his brothers Wayne and Daryl.
Wagner says his landlords appreciate the improvements to their land that have resulted from GPS/GIS technology. Many equate these improvements with land stewardship. In fact, one landlord cited the brothers' land-management practices as the reason she wanted them to farm her land.
"One reason I've done as much public speaking about this issue as I have is because the more people you get involved in this technology and the more they understand it, the more my information becomes valuable," Wagner says.
Other than putting together framed "micro-topography" maps as Christmas gifts for landlords, Wagner says he's not shared with landlords any of the site-specific information he's collected. Likewise, the Wagners have not yet used the information as a basis for negotiating the terms of rental agreements. But they have based their decision to give up some rented land on site-specific information.
Besides gaining a better understanding of how their land is being managed, landlords would benefit from GPS/GIS technology because of how they or future tenants could use the information. In other words, GPS/GIS data could help owners make land-use decisions, such as whether to enroll less-productive acreage in the Conservation Reserve Program. A GPS/GIS database could also serve as a value-added feature of farmland advertised for rent. The key, Saxowsky says, is to negotiate the issue and establish ownership.
"Unless someone is willing to pay me `x' dollars an acre for gathering it, that's my information," Wagner concludes.
###
Sources: David Saxowsky (701) 231-7470
Gary Wagner (218) 281-7905
Editor: Dean Hulse (701) 231-6136