The astute amongst you will notice that I havent written here for a while, and it has been for a very good reason. I have been up to my eyeballs in University coursework and dissertation. Last night I polished off my last ever (hopefully) piece of university coursework, a nice level one (first year) module on grassland management grassland management, where I had to use a computer to identify an "unknown" grass species. I say "unknown" as it was absolutely clear to me what it was as there are no other grass species like it (that I know about), as it was Dactylis glomerata, more commonly known as Cocksfoot. So I sat there looking at it, "why on earth do I need to use a computer to identify this!?" and probably many of you are yelling the same! It was because we only got 30% of the mark if we got the grass species right, and the remaining 70% from identifying all of the morphological characteristics of the grass.
So in the end I actually learnt alot, with the help of a computer. I suppose this is indicative of the wider situation in the world, where computers are being used more and more. Once again, the same ones who were yelling about using a computer to identify a grass species are probably muttering away, " blasted computers taking over the world..." . The explosion in computer use could be seen like this, but used correctly it is a truth that computers do actually help us to a large degree. A post on the "Talking Tackle" forum stuck in my mind, saying that yes, tractors have a silly amount of electronics in, that all go wrong, when they go wrong they tell you what the problem is and often offer a list of methods on how to fix it. A skilled mechanic may be able to diagnose without a computer, but skilled mechanics are quite thin on the ground these days! So admitedly, computers are taking over a bit, taking the emphasis off human skill, and breeding a culture where the computer is deemed as god and what it says goes.... cue the line "Computer says no....." from someone on the end of a phone line over a desk. This isnt their fault or apparent moronicness (is that a word?), but the fact they simply havent been trained to think logically about a problem, instead just to put data into a computer and take heed of its response.
For the last few weeks I have been sat here at my computer, working on my dissertation, which is about tillage and wheat growth, with the sun shining outside my window, making me quite irrate. It would be nice to be outside for a bit and to actually live a bit. To make matters worse, outside, up rolls a nice TM150 with a sprayer and starts spraying the fields over the road, drawing my attention away from my work (easily done). Watching it chug across the field my mind wanders even further. Having passed my PA1 and being all learned up on spraying etc, I start picking up things that perhaps the sprayer shouldnt be doing. One of the biggest errors was the amount of overlap at the headlands the driver was leaving, looked like about 6m. Now 6 metres over alot of headlands works up to a lot of wasted chemical, and hence here is another place that computers have a very useful role to play. The potential for savings from GPS sprayer control seem to be quite high, especially with input prices rising. Tim = big fan.
To sum up my rather long ramble ( I only meant it to be a few lines!), I have about finished university (3 weeks, 3 days and 9 hours away!). Done all my coursework, have a dissertation that is about ready for submission, so if anyone fancies acting as a proof reader let me know!!! The countryside is coming alive again after the winter, and I'm really looking forward to being a part of its future. I have accepted an offer of a place as a trainee farm manager with one of the big farming companies. I am just awaiting to find out where I will be placed over the summer and for the training. Nothing has been signed yet so I wont say who it is with!
Thanks for reading!