How solar storms are a risk to your peanuts
What's the story
Solar storms, the cosmic phenomena that create stunning auroras, can also wreak havoc on the GPS systems used by farmers. As solar activity is expected to stay high in the coming years, more intense geomagnetic storm events are likely. These storms can interfere with satellites and GPS signals, potentially disrupting agricultural operations and affecting crops like peanuts.
Disruption
Solar storms' impact on agricultural operations
Charged particles from the Sun can cause geomagnetic storms, which not only create beautiful auroras but also disrupt our technological world. These storms can ground airline flights, cancel rocket launches, distort radio signals, and confuse navigation systems. In May 2024, a major solar storm caused GPS-guided tractors in the US to go haywire. Farmers reported issues with their autoguidance systems such as jolting and steering problems.
Crop vulnerability
Peanuts: A crop particularly vulnerable to GPS disruptions
While many crops now depend on satellite navigation, peanuts are especially reliant. Once the peanut plant canopy grows, farmers can't see where the rows are anymore. This is why peanut farming relies heavily on RTK GPS (real-time kinematic GPS), which provides sub-centimeter accuracy and preserves that accuracy months later. Agricultural economist Terry Griffin's research shows how much a major space weather event can cost and why peanuts are so vulnerable to these disruptions.
Economic implications
The financial impact of GPS outages on peanut farmers
When GNSS outages hit, peanut farmers are left with two expensive choices: continue planting without RTK and risk misaligned digging months later or stop planting and wait. Both options could lead to significant financial losses. Griffin's modeling shows that mistimed decisions during GPS outages could put over $100 million worth of peanut production at risk across the southeastern US. In worst-case scenarios, nearly 262 kilotons of peanuts destined for human consumption could be lost.