The most common occupation in America used to be farming. But farms are so high-tech these days, fewer farmers are needed to work the fields. That ends up having important side effects for farm towns across the Midwest and Great Plains. Brandon Biesemeier climbs up a small ladder into a John Deere sprayer, takes a seat in the enclosed cab, closes the door, and blocks out most of the machine’s loud engine hum. It’s a familiar perch to the fifth generation farmer on Colorado’s eastern plains. He turns onto the country road, heading south to spray an herbicide on his corn fields, an early growing season task his genetically-engineered crops demand to unlock their value. In the cab, a computer screen shows a little pixelated tractor moving across digital fields, showing his work. “It turns everything blue that we’ve hit,” Biesemeier says. “I think sometimes you get so focused on this screen you forget what even you’re doing.” He holds a hunter-orange joystick in his right hand and uses it
↧