The 2025 growing season could be a rough one for GPS signals

Professor Terry Griffin of Kansas State University tells Shaun Haney with RealAgriculture that recent GPS signal disruptions have been caused by coronal mass ejections (CME) and these events can have huge implications for farm operations that depend on GPS at this critical time of year.

CMEs are a burst of energy and charged particles from the sun. When it reaches Earth, it can affect the planet’s magnetic field. CMEs sometimes cause northern lights, but stronger ones can disrupt GPS, power grids and satellites, which can impact farm equipment and technology.

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Griffin says that the unexpected early arrival of a coronal mass ejection from an M-class solar flare, triggered GPS disruptions across parts of the continent recently. While GPS outages typically last only a few hours, severe conditions can extend this window. Farmers should expect periodic outages throughout 2025 and into early 2026 as solar activity remains high, he says.

Predicting these events is akin to tornado forecasting, where it’s most reliable only at the last minute. Griffin recommends monitoring the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s spaceweather.gov for updates and interpreting the colour-coded G-scale for geomagnetic disturbances.

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Disruptions can miscalculate positions by up to 10 feet, critical during seeding, spraying, and other precision work. Sectional control and automated guidance systems are particularly vulnerable, he adds.

This isn’t a once-in-a-lifetime or even season event, either. It’s a normal part of the 11-year solar cycle. Farmers should expect continued GPS  challenges during peak solar activity periods until mid-2026.