TWIN FALLS - It has been ahead of the game on many things.

The Agriculture Department was the first program at the College of Southern Idaho to require its students to complete a computer class to graduate - besides the college's computer technology department.

So it's not surprising that the Agriculture Department is still staying abreast of the latest technology.

The department is the proud owner of a new John Deere tractor that can do some pretty amazing things. The tractor, as well as several new additions to the department, are all part of the college's effort to teach precision agriculture.

Precision agriculture uses technology such as global positioning systems, geographic information systems and real time kine-matics to help farmers increase production.

"This is the latest technology and it's also the future of agriculture," said Jim Wilson, associate professor of agriculture at CSI. "It's incredibly expensive, but what most people are finding out is that these things actually pay for themselves."

Unfortunately, it's the cost that prevents the college from doing more with its precision agriculture program, Wilson said.

Although the college bought the tractor, almost everything else was donated by manufacturers or paid for by grants. The second-generation GPS system that helps guide the tractor cost more than $30,000 by itself.

"Yeah, the hardest part is the money," Wilson said. "But much of the equipment is donated, and we share it with other schools."

To afford the high-priced equipment, and also to keep up with the latest developments, the agriculture program at CSI is part of a consortium of colleges known as Agri-Knowledge.

But Wilson said the cost and the work are worth the effort.

"We no longer work with acres. Now we work within feet," he said. "The GPS technology is accurate within two to five meters, so we can increase the crops in the field and therefore increase our yield."

When farmers work their fields, they usually guide their tractors along "guess rows," which do not produce a crop yield. But GPS allows farmers to see exactly where they are in their fields, eliminating the "guess rows."

"This is a big thing because it costs a lot of money to run a tractor over an acre or more," Wilson said. "And if you are overlapping or missing the row within a foot, then you are losing a lot of money."

The system can also operate equipment that is attached to the tractor such as fertilizers and seeders. By logging information into the system, the equipment can automatically adjust to treat specific areas of the field - a process that is called prescription farming.

The system can even drive the tractor.

"The bigger tractors are all pre-wired for this technology - most even have DVD players," Wilson said. "So when you're out there in the field you can monitor your machinery and watch a movie."

Times-News writer Joshua Palmer covers education. He can be reached at jpalmer@magicvalley.com or at (208) 420-0526.