When scouting corn and soybean plants on his family’s 1,300-acre farm near Higginsville, Mo., no-tiller Garrett Riekhof will document insect damage or leaf discoloration to share with his off-site agronomist and solicit feedback.

Recording and evaluating plant health is nothing new for Riekhof, but he recently tested a unique technology that could change the way he does it in the future.

He’s one of a small number of farmers who have tried the experimental Google Glass technology — a futuristic pair of safety goggles with a built-in computer — that lets users snap photos, shoot video and e-mail or text information with a simple set of voice commands.

“I can easily see myself walking down a corn row doing a live chat with my agronomist, where he is seeing what I am from my point of view,” Riekhof says. “He might ask me to get a closer look at a plant to help diagnose a problem faster, without me having to pay for him to physically come out to the field.”

Hands-Free Tool.

Riekhof was introduced to the new technology by Higginsville native Bruce Rasa, who last year was chosen by Google to participate in its “Explorer” program to test Google Glass’ application in agriculture.

Rasa grew up on his family’s 3,500-acre no-till farm in Missouri and has spent more than 2 decades in product marketing and development with companies, including IBM and AGCO. He recently launched his own company, TekWear, based in Buford, Ga., to develop apps for Google…