VOA慢速英語:利用高科技工具，美國農(nóng)民希望獲取更高回報

利用高科技工具，美國農(nóng)民希望獲取更高回報

From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.

這里是美國之音慢速英語農(nóng)業(yè)報道。

Farmers are increasingly using high-tech products to lower their costs, increase the amount of crops they grow and add to their profits. But they are not just using high-tech machines. They also now employ services that gather information about their farms to improve their businesses.

農(nóng)民越來越多的使用高科技產(chǎn)品來降低成本，增加所種植農(nóng)產(chǎn)品的產(chǎn)量，從而增加收入。到那時他們不僅僅是利用高科技機器，他們現(xiàn)在還利用專業(yè)服務(wù)來收集他們農(nóng)的場信息，從而完善他們的業(yè)務(wù)。

The Finfrock family grows corn and soybeans on about 3,200 hectares in the Midwestern state of Illinois. Shelley Finfrock and her husband use technology to operate the large farm with just their son and one employee. But Ms Finfrock says technology can not control everything.

Finfrock一家在美國中西部的伊利諾州種植了大約3200公頃的玉米和大豆。Shelley Finfrock和她的丈夫，以及她的兒子和一個雇工，運用科技來運營這個大農(nóng)場，但是她說，科技并不能掌控一切。

"Weather's probably the most important thing, and the most uncontrollable thing," Finfrock said.

Finfrock說：“天氣可能是最重要也最無法控制的因素。”

She says weather affects every part of a farm, including the soil, animals that eat the crops and crop production. She says all these affect profit.

她說天氣影響著農(nóng)場的方方面面。包括土壤，蠶食農(nóng)作物的害蟲和農(nóng)作物的產(chǎn)量。她稱所有這些都會影響收入。

The soil in the field near the farm house looks and sounds dry. But below the surface, it has enough water to let corn seeds begin to grow. The amount of rain that falls can differ greatly from field to field on the farm.

農(nóng)舍附近的一塊土地上的土壤很干燥，但是在地表以下有足夠的水分可以供給玉米的生長。農(nóng)場里的每一塊地的降雨量都有很大區(qū)別。

The Finfrocks farm in five counties, checking water levels and other conditions on such a large spread can take a lot of travel time. So for the past year, Ms Finfrock has been testing an online service called Climate Basic.

Finfrocks家的農(nóng)場橫跨五個縣，所以在如此大的農(nóng)場檢查水位和其他情況，需要花費很多的出行時間。Finfrock利用一種叫做“Climate Basic”的在線服務(wù)來檢測。

The service sends her a text message very early in the morning. It tells her how much rain fell on her farms in the past 24 hours. It measures to the hundredths of a centimeter. She says the service has worked so far.

這項服務(wù)每天一大早就會給她發(fā)一條訊息報告情況。它會告訴她在過去的24小時內(nèi)她的農(nóng)場有多少降雨量。它會精確測量到厘米的百分之一。她稱，她一直使用這項服務(wù)至今。

"We have a farm from where we're sitting right now, just a mile south, and it'll say it was dry, and you got a good half inch rain [up here], and you go down there and it's dry. So it was a pretty good tool to use," Finfrock said.

Finfrock說：“在我們現(xiàn)在坐的地方，往南走一英里有一塊地，這項在線服務(wù)會說這塊地很干燥，只下了半英寸的雨，等你到那看會發(fā)現(xiàn)是真的很干燥。所以這真是一個很好用的工具。”

Tristan D'Orgeval works at Climate Corporation which developed the Climate Basic program.

在氣象公司工作的Tristan D'Orgeval研發(fā)了這個“Climate Basic”程序。

"We are dealing every day with more than 10 million points for precipitation, updated on an hourly basis," D'Orgeval said.

D'Orgeval稱：“我們每天會處理超過1000萬條的降雨量條目，每個小時會更新一次。”

Mr. D'Orgeval says the company uses data from the National Weather Service and other sources.

D'Orgeval稱，公司所用的數(shù)據(jù)來自國家氣象局和其他資源。

"Including radar, rain gauges and satellites, to have the best picture of the rainfall on a field-per-field basis," D'Orgeval said.

D'Orgeval稱：“我們利用雷達，雨量測量器和衛(wèi)星，來提供每一塊土地的最清晰的畫面。 ”

Climate Corporation released a more complex version of its program this year called Climate Pro. It hopes the program will help farmers decide what to plant, and when to use chemicals that improve growth and kill insects. The program will even tell them how much money they might make.

該氣象公司今年會發(fā)布一個關(guān)于此程序的背一個更復(fù)雜的版本，叫做“Climate Pro”。該公司希望該程序可以幫助農(nóng)民決定種植什么，什么時候用化學藥品來促進生長和殺滅害蟲。這個程序甚至可以告訴農(nóng)民他們可能需要花費多少錢。

And that's the VOA Learning English Agriculture Report. I'm Christopher Cruise.

這就是本期的美國之音慢速英語農(nóng)業(yè)報道的全部內(nèi)容，我是克里斯多夫·克魯斯。