By admin 
YUMA, AZ (AZFamily) — A network of high-tech wireless broadband towers rising from the desert near Yuma could soon give farmers real-time insight into their crops and help reshape how agriculture operates in one of the nation’s driest regions.
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Researchers at the University of Arizona Yuma Agricultural Center are testing the system, part of a project building 34 wireless broadband towers across Yuma County.
Backers say the goal is to use technology to help create fields that rely on less water while producing more crops, with tools that allow growers to monitor conditions and manage irrigation remotely.
Supporters describe the project as unprecedented in scale.
“The towers project will be the largest agriculture, privately owned by the farmers network in the world,” said Samuel Discua, director at the University of Arizona Yuma Agricultural Center. “This will be unique; no one else in the world has done something like this.”
At the agricultural center, a testing tower is already in place as crews work toward countywide coverage, spanning roughly 180,000 acres of farmland, the center said.
The broadband network is designed to connect farm sensors and equipment, giving growers quicker updates on field conditions and reducing the need for frequent trips across large operations — a change that could save time, fuel and water.
Connor Osgood, the agtech manager at the University of Arizona Yuma Agricultural Center, said connected sensors can help track pests and other threats.
“There are sensors out there that can monitor, use AI and machine learning to measure how many different types of insects are coming into the field and where they are, so we can track the movement of pest populations,” Osgood said.
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Osgood said the buildout is only the first phase, and that additional wireless capabilities will come later.
“It is important to know that right now, right now we are just building just the towers and then the wireless part comes later,” he said.
Workers are also testing the network using trucks that can function as mobile Wi-Fi hotspots, Osgood said.
“The tower project at the Yuma Agricultural Center is complementary to the much larger regional effort led by Yuma County to build a network of 34 wireless broadband towers,” Osgood said.
The towers are scheduled to be completed by the end of August, according to the University of Arizona Yuma Agricultural Center.
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