Here’s a seasonal exercise to perform on your farm:
Prior to planting, spraying and harvesting, take a visual inventory of the precision ag technology on each piece of equipment you run and estimate how much time and money it has saved or made you over the years.
Some paybacks – like added bushels or reduced input costs – might be easy to calculate. Other benefits – such as more stamina or less stress – are harder to quantify (but they’re there if you look close enough!).
Then, think about some of the factors that might be limiting your ability to unlock even more ROI from each precision tool. Are there opportunities available to further improve equipment performance and farm production?
While there is undoubtedly a benefit to working with reliable “tried-and-trusted” technology, there may also come a time when an upgrade or update to your system is worth considering. After all: no matter whether you get more out of your existing set-up or choose to install something new, evolving your system might be the difference-maker that takes accuracy from feet to fractions of an inch and increases efficiency from minutes to hours.
Here are just a few of the tools an upgrade to your system could unlock:
Steering Systems
While autosteer is often considered a baseline precision ag technology, it’s not a one-solution-fits-all tool. For some, reliable assisted steering may be enough, while others require more advanced systems.
In the United Kingdom, potato farmer Ben Clappison upgraded the guidance and steering system on his 2010 Case IH 485 STX Quadtrac to a solution that allowed for NextSwath end-of-row-turn technology. This investment made it easier to work upwards of 120 hours a week in the spring, and reduced the stress of getting 4,000 acres planted.
“It’s so consistent at the ends with the turns,” Clappison says. “It’s beyond belief, the best GPS system I’ve used and it’s just so consistent on our headlands.”
Revisit the potential benefits that an automated steering solution can provide, and consider how implement guidance could further reduce your fuel usage, fertilizer costs and operator fatigue.
Variable-Rate Technology
Elevating the performance of your planter or sprayer technology – even by a few percentage points – can lead to substantial savings.
For example, eliminating skipped or double-planted areas, especially on point rows, can save several bags of seed every year. And avoiding over- or under-application of costly chemicals with more accurate rate control and blockage monitoring can stretch the value of your fertilizer dollar across more acres.
Positioning Services
Pairing the proper positioning service with the right farming practice is critical to capturing your full precision potential. And don’t just take our word for it – upgrading to repeatable year-to-year, sub-inch accuracy in a matter of minutes was what saved Nebraska growers Fred and Leroy Hofmann time and money.
For two years, the Hofmanns struggled with signal consistency due to foliage around the operation. To obtain the RTK signal needed to reach every vehicle on every part of the farm, they were forced to set up multiple GNSS RTK base stations.
This proved costly and time consuming, especially during the peak of planting. But by upgrading to Trimble’s CenterPoint® RTX correction service, they were able to eliminate their RTK base station headaches. Since making the change, they've been able to move from field to field without having to move base stations, saving them time and increasing productivity.
Integrated Displays
In-cab displays have become an integral part of farm management. They are often the cornerstone on which in-field decisions are built. And compatibility is increasingly important to controlling the collection and flow of data from the field to the office – making it more and more important to choose a display with high levels of connectivity.
Whether it’s the ability to control up to 6 input channels and 255 sections, or having access to increased storage and processing power, a modern integrated display can streamline decision-making and make your day run more smoothly.
Plus, ISOBUS-compatible displays and ISO Electronic Control Units (ECUs) can enhance the capability of current equipment, allowing for further expansion in the future.
Don’t miss out on what advanced precision can deliver
As you prepare for each season, evaluate the potential to extend the performance and production of your existing equipment or consider if it’s time to make a full-scale upgrade. By investing in the future – either by getting more out of your current technology or moving to a new solution – you can uncover even more ways to generate maximum return on time and money.
Ready to get started? Contact your local Trimble reseller to learn about current offers that might help make improving precision performance on your operation even more affordable.
