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September 12, Associated Press - Sensors gather harvest data. Tiny sensors planted in a sugar beet field south of Fargo, ND, gather data vital to helping the crop reach its harvest potential. Smart dust is the industry tag given to radio frequency identification technology taken to a new level. The same technology that will reshape the retail world -- replacing UPC codes with tiny transmitters -- is expected to invade all aspects of commerce through the use of wireless sensor networks. Smart dust sensors not only provide information about location, but gather data and deliver it via antennas to the Internet. The sensors are set just beneath the knee-high leaf canopy protecting the beet. Every five minutes the sensors read and relay to a computer, readings on temperature, humidity, leaf wetness, and soil moisture. Al Cattanach, a field agronomist with American Crystal, said accurate and timely data from a field could result in big savings for growers. An application of fungicide or fertilizer costs about $20an acre. Spread among American Crystal's 500,000 acres, eliminating just one treatment based on field information could result in $10 million in savings, he said. Timely data can help growers prevent disease to plants, Cattanach said. The North Dakota Agricultural Statistics Service has less-specific data stations set up on a county-by-county basis. While the information can be a guide to growers, it can't tell them exactly what's taking place in their field.
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