Farming by letters isn't really anything new. I was raised on a small farm some years ago. Well, more than some years ago. In fact, quite a few years ago.

Anyway, we farmed by letters back in those days. The letters we used were things like 'A' John Deere, 'B' Farmall, 'B' John Deere, 'H' Farmall, 'M' Farmall. And there were a lot more too. Everybody had a letter somewhere on the yard or in the field.

And the letters are still there, down on the farm. But Holy Smokes, they sure have changed a bunch.

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I was checking out one of my favorite websites, This Is Farming from SD Corn. They have a lot of cool things there, from the super technical stuff (Wow, i didn't know that) to stuff for kids (Oh yeah, I remember that). And that's where I bumped into what, at least to me, a guy who's been off the farm for decades, are the new letters of farming.

Letters like GPS, GIS and VRT.

The What and the what and the what?? Boy, I don't recall those letters on the tractors from my childhood. And there's a good reason.

Just as an example, VRT has to do with:

Digital systems allow farmers to use variable seeding and input applications in specific locations within fields. For example, a low-lying area might produce better with a particular hybrid while another area, just a few feet away, demands a different hybrid for optimum production.

Nope. I don't remember dear old Dad ever saying something like that.

It's a different kind of farming these days, just like farming for my Dad was different than it was for his Dad. Heck, they went from horses to tractors and I'm sure that took just a little getting used to as well.

To all my farm friends out there, be safe and best of luck this year!

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