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For Farmers, Big Data Can Mean Big Savings On Water

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Researchers install a networked soil moisture sensor at the University of Georgia's Stripling Irrigation Research Park in Camilla, Ga. (Sam Whitehead/GPB)
Researchers install a networked soil moisture sensor at the University of Georgia's Stripling Irrigation Research Park in Camilla, Ga. (Sam Whitehead/GPB)

How do farmers know if they’re being efficient with their water? In Georgia, where much of the state is suffering from a drought, that question is more important than ever.

Right now, Florida is suing Georgia in the U.S. Supreme Court. The case, part of a decades-long water fight between the two states and Alabama, could cap Georgia’s water use in the Flint River basin and hurt the state’s agricultural economy.

Some farmers in southwest Georgia are turning a new tool to use less water: big data.

Sam Whitehead (@sclaudwhitehead) of Here & Now contributor Georgia Public Broadcasting reports.

This segment aired on December 12, 2016.

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