From VOA Learning English, this is the Agriculture Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语农业报道。

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.

农民们越来越多地使用高科技产品来降低成本，增加农作物种植量以及提升利润。但他们不只是使用高科技机器，他们还购买了收集其农场信息的服务以改善业务。

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.

芬弗洛克一家在中西部的伊利诺伊州种植了大约3200公顷的玉米和大豆。雪莱·芬弗洛克(Shelley Finfrock)和她的丈夫使用科技经营着一家大型农场，只有他们的儿子和一名雇员在农场工作。但芬弗洛克女士表示，科技无法控制一切。

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

芬弗洛克说，“天气可能是最重要也最无法控制的事情。”

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.

她说天气影响农场的方方面面，包括土壤，害虫以及农作物产量。她说所有这些都会影响利润。

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.

农舍附近的一块地的土壤看上去和听上去都很干燥。但在土壤表面之下有着足够水分供玉米种子开始生长。该农场每块地的降雨量都有很大不同。

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.

芬弗洛克一家在五个县种地。在如此大面积上检查水位和其它状况会花去大量时间。所以在去年，芬弗洛克女士一直在测试一种被称为气候基础版的在线服务。

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.

该服务每天一大早给她发送一条短信，告诉她过去24小时她的农场有多少降水，计量精确到百分之一公分。她说截至目前该服务一直效果不错。

"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.

芬弗洛克说，“在距现在我们所处位置以南一英里我们有一个农场，气候服务说该农场很干燥，只下了半英寸雨。我们去到那里果然很干燥。所以它是一个非常不错的工具。”

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

特里斯坦·德奥哲瓦（Tristan D'Orgeval）就职于Climate Corporation公司，该公司开发了气候基础版程序。

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

德奥哲瓦说，“我们每天处理超过1千万条每小时更新的降水量细目。”

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

德奥哲瓦先生说，该公司使用了来自美国国家气象局和其它来源的数据。

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

德奥哲瓦说，“包括雷达、雨量计和卫星数据，按每片土地生成降雨的最佳图像。”

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.

Climate Corporation今年发布了一个更加复杂的程序，该程序被称为气候专业版。该公司希望该程序能够帮助农民决定种什么，以及何时使用化学品来改善作物生长情况及杀灭害虫。该程序甚至会告诉农民们能赚多少钱。