I work for these guys all the time. Yes, 1/2" horizontal. At first with GPS they actually had to turn the vehicle (tractor/combine) around at the end of each row. Roughly get it headed in the right direction push a button and bam, they are right on.
Vertical is of no concern. The farmer adjusts this himself with no attention paid to GPS. This will never change. Seed should to be planted at an optimal depth with respect to soil surface and this is accomplished by mechanical means.
I know they're very close because some have 'checked' my work.
When tiling farmers or tile contractors still use laser levels.
Steve
Mr. Locked
UW-Madison has had a history of producing excellent engineers. Used to know quite a few.
The big time ag/construction manufacturers bought into GPS at a very, very early date. They could visualize a wide variety of upgrades they could make to generate new equipment sales. They had already mastered electronic monitoring systems of every kind imaginable. Today, all the farmer needs to do is enter a field never entered before, make a lap around the outside edge, store that data, then let the GPS guidance system take over. The driver is monitoring everything else while the tractor/combine/harvester is guiding itself. One fairly common practice has evolved where the crop is planted in precisely the same strips year after year. This can be especially helpful in soil types that are more susceptible to compaction problems. This allows them to keep the compacted soils in the same place and leave the other 90 percent of the land free of compaction problems.
Mr. Locked
Yes, Mr. Cow, UW-Madison is a good suggestion. However, my son is more inclined to prefer a smaller college. We've been to UW-River Falls (THE school in our state for ag related undergraduate disciplines) and will be going to UW-Platteville this week (THE school in our state for undergraduate engineering).
He's been working on his grandpa's / uncle's dairy farm for many years now and wants to pursue ag, but I don't think precision ag is the area he prefers. I guess cows and tractors rubbed off on him more than dad's total stations.
Mr. Locked
They've changed the name, but, this is where they turn out Agricultural Engineers in Wisconsin.