On RFD-TV: Laura Thompson | NASA and Ag

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09/01/2022 Added

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Extension Educator Laura Thompson chats with RFD-TV about NASA's visit to Nebraska farms. The segment appeared live, August 30, 2022.

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[00:00:00.450]Out of this world.
[00:00:02.310]Well NASA went to Nebraska on its a Space for Ag tour.
[00:00:06.420]Scientists toured farms and they also talked with farmers about how they can
[00:00:10.650]work together.
[00:00:11.700]Well, this morning, we're joined by Laura Thompson, University of Nebraska
[00:00:15.030]Extension educator.
[00:00:16.470]Laura, thanks for taking the time to chat with us today.
[00:00:19.080]So what is the connection actually, between NASA and agriculture here?
[00:00:24.510]Yes, well, NASA actually has a long relationship with agriculture.
[00:00:27.960]And we learned from the NASA scientists who are visiting that the planet that
[00:00:31.350]they study most is actually Earth.
[00:00:33.840]And so the NASA Earth Science Division is currently drawing observations from 25
[00:00:38.190]satellites that orbit the planet.
[00:00:40.230]And they have three more satellites that will be launched yet this year.
[00:00:43.470]And these satellites range in size from a shoebox to a coach bus and are
[00:00:47.640]collecting a variety of observations, including precipitation in the atmosphere,
[00:00:51.570]soil moisture, vegetation, and pollution.
[00:00:54.630]These missions are supporting tools that producers might be familiar with, like
[00:00:58.110]the Drought Monitor and the USDA WASDE report.
[00:01:00.930]And they're also producing other tools that are more focused on direct
[00:01:04.230]applications to agriculture.
[00:01:05.790]For example, a two week soil moisture outlook, as well as a tool called Open ET
[00:01:10.950]that's producing frequent evapo transpiration information on an individual field
[00:01:15.660]basis, with the goal of helping producers make more data driven irrigation
[00:01:20.490]decisions and optimize their water use.
[00:01:23.130]Now, as we mentioned, there was a tour with NASA on location in Nebraska.
[00:01:27.900]What do they hope to learn from farmers in these visits?
[00:01:31.740]Yes, well, we heard from NASA that their goal is really to take what they're
[00:01:35.100]doing on a global and regional scale and make it impactful on a local level.
[00:01:40.230]So these farm visits really allowed NASA to engage with producers and better
[00:01:44.130]find out what data and tools they need to manage their complex operation.
[00:01:48.660]So we visited three farms across the state the Knuth farm at Mead the Honeycutt
[00:01:52.560]farm at Giltner.
[00:01:53.280]And the Beatty farm at Lexington.
[00:01:55.110]And all of these farmers are early adopters of technology and are actually
[00:01:58.860]evaluating and testing new technologies on their operations through our Nebraska
[00:02:03.420]on Farm Research Network.
[00:02:05.100]And so this was a great chance for the producers to help to find how NASA might
[00:02:09.300]fine tune their existing tools, or inform what tools get developed in the
[00:02:13.440]future.
[00:02:14.430]So what did you hear farmers share with NASA during the these gatherings?
[00:02:20.490]Yes, well, we saw some consistent themes emerged.
[00:02:22.710]For example, all of the farmers who participated are using satellite imagery in
[00:02:26.910]some way in their operation, but mentioned that it wasn't necessarily easy to
[00:02:30.960]use or didn't interface well with other farm decision information in a way that
[00:02:36.840]would support their decision making.
[00:02:38.910]We also heard that they're really looking for tools to help better manage water
[00:02:42.570]and nitrogen on their farms.
[00:02:44.190]And that, really, they want tools that will help them help inform their
[00:02:48.180]decisions and not simply tell them what to do.
[00:02:51.150]What do you hope might result from this meeting these meetings that took place,
[00:02:55.260]Laura?
[00:02:57.060]Yeah, well, we're hoping that the tools that NASA produces will really be
[00:03:01.110]impactful for farmers on that local decision basis.
[00:03:04.980]All right.
[00:03:05.370]Well, thank you very much for joining us again.
[00:03:06.930]Laura Thompson UNL, Extension Educator talking with us about NASA in
[00:03:11.880]agriculture.
[00:03:12.690]Again, thank you very much for taking the time to join us this morning.

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On RFD-TV: Laura Thompson | NASA and Ag

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