When the sun's fury disrupts high-tech farming, precision turns to chaos.

Modern-day farming is a high-tech operation highly dependent on GPS-guided tractors revolutionizing the way crops are planted, fertilized and harvested. But on May 10, 2024, that system came under attack, not from mechanical failure or sophisticated hackers, but from the sun itself.

On that day, the sun unleashed its largest geomagnetic storm in decades. The rare G5-class event sent shockwaves through Earth's ionosphere, disrupting GPS systems nationwide.

While the G5 storm wowed observers around the world with some of the strongest auroras in 500 years, the storm was nothing short of a nightmare for farmers in the American Midwest. "Our tractors acted like they were demon possessed," aurora chaser Elaine Ramstad, told Spaceweather.com.

Modern farming relies heavily on precision. Using GPS-guided tractors, farmers can plant thousands of acres in perfectly straight rows, accurately applying just the right amount of fertilizer to ensure optimum yields. When it's time to harvest, the machines can return to the exact same positions to pick the crops, minimizing wastage and ensuring maximum efficiency.

However, this technology-dependent agriculture is highly vulnerable to strong solar storms.

"If it just happens at the wrong time, in the wrong season, if it holds everything up by three or four days. It can have a significant impact on agriculture," solar and astrophysical researcher Scott McIntosh told Space.com.

Scott explains that if the same powerful storms hit 20 years ago, it wouldn't have really mattered to farmers as they weren't dependent on GPS. But now, our increased reliance on automation means solar storms can be a nightmare for farmers.

"I would guess 80% or more of all farmers in the Midwest use at least basic GPS for something — whether it's auto-steer or yield mapping," Ethan Smidt, a service manager for agricultural machinery manufacturer John Deere, told Spaceweather.com. "At least 50% of all farmers are VERY reliant on GPS and use it on every machine all year long."