Precision Solutions For Vegetable Growers

Precision Solutions

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How are equipment manufacturers working for vegetable growers in this new decade? What new products around the bend will provide solutions specific to growing fresh produce? We caught up with several manufacturers to ask them how they are addressing vegetable growers’ needs in precision technology, and learned about some new products and trends.

Trend: Real-Time Information

Access to real-time information as it relates to production, management, and crop shipping, as a general trend in agricultural production, is a growing need for vegetable producers. While many growers have tracked their data manually, tabulating it after the season is over, growers, shippers, and packers are finding many advantages to having this information as soon as it is generated to improve decision-making throughout the season.

The traceability mandate throughout the fresh produce industry is one motivator, with significant interest throughout the industry to implement traceability systems from field to fork. Traceability systems available include technologies that utilize bar code and radio frequency identification (RFID) to capture data in the field. Information can be sent via wireless to servers that make it available to multiple users in the supply chain.

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Real-Time Solutions

John Deere Agri Services is providing tomato growers with same-day delivery reporting information on their tomato crop, says Jeff Bradshaw, national account manager for John Deere Agri Services.

“Once a product is delivered to the cannery, growers can receive yield and quality grading information,” he says. “This information serves as a management tool to plan harvesting schedules on a daily basis. Growers can optimize profits and reduce deductions by harvesting and delivering the product and quality processors need for the plant at that specific time.”

Labor tracking is another new area of development for John Deere Agri Services, Bradshaw says.

“Many crops require labor crews to grow and harvest crops. The development of a labor tracking system is designed to automate the payroll process while tracking labor costs to specific crops, fields, and blocks. Eventually, the system will track harvest labor costs by harvest unit.”

Trimble’s Connected Farm aims to make data collection, transfer, and management easier, says Wayne Wenzel, public relations manager for Trimble Navigation. “When hardware and software merge, data management becomes easier and more valuable to the grower,” he says. “The future is now. As growers roll across their fields with precision ag systems, they need real-time information, and new products like Connected Farm fills that need.”

Raven Industries has introduced Slingshot, aimed at completely changing correction signal and data management in precision agriculture (see The Latest Components).

“Data management gets a lot of discussion,” says Kristin Tilus, marketing coordinator with Raven Industries. “Growers and operators collect a lot of data, and they struggle with moving it around and managing it.”

Autofarm is collaborating with partners Raven Industries and AgLeader on the ParaDyme precision farming system, a multi-function platform that also includes data logging and management (see sidebar). The idea is to provide end-to-end solution support, rather than requiring growers or dealers to integrate a broad range of technologies, according to Joe Robertson, communications manager for Novariant-AutoFarm.

Trend: Assisted Steering

Assisted steering is a large need and will be in demand this year, according to Tilus of Raven Industries, based on feedback from the company’s training sessions and trade shows.

“GPS guidance has been out and adopted by a good percentage of the market, and now those people are looking to add steering to their operation,” Tilus says. “Assisted steering has been refined and simplified to the point that growers are increasingly comfortable with the technology and understand the benefits and return on investment they can get with assisted steering.”

Steering Solutions

Wenzel agrees, saying a guidance system that gives sub-inch repeatable accuracy is the first precision agriculture tool growers should have.

“Trimble offers several solutions that let growers put the tractor, and the implement behind it, on exactly the same path, month after month and year after year,” Wenzel says. “These systems are invaluable for field preparation, drip tape irrigation, planting, weed control, and other operations, all the way through harvest.”

The Latest Components

Looking to get on board with the latest in precision ag tools? Here are a few components now available to growers.

Precision Farming System
Partnering with Raven Industries and AgLeader, AutoFarm offers the new ParaDyme precision farming system. With an exclusive Remote Service feature that provides customers with a direct wireless connection to their AutoFarm dealer, ParaDyme allows dealers to resolve field issues in real time. The ParaDyme system is said to be a single-system solution to everything precision ag: planter control, application control, yield monitoring, data logging and management, plus hands-free GPS steering via WAAS (Wide Area Augmentation System), EGNOS (European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service), RTK (Real Time Kinematic), and others.

For more information, visit www.gpsfarm.com.

Slingshot Online
Slingshot from Raven Industries is a suite of products centered around wireless connectivity in the cab. Slingshot RTK will deliver RTK level correction signals at unprecedented range. It works on any major carrier in North America, as well as existing CORS (Continuously Operating Reference Stations) networks. Slingshot Online offers remote support in the cab, vehicle observation tools, and instant data transfer capabilities between machine and office. Slingshot Online is also backed by the AgX platform, for simpler, more streamlined information management.

For more information, visit www.ravenprecision.com.

Crop Input Control System
The Field-IQ crop input control system is designed to improve input control with the Trimble AgGPS FmX integrated display or the AgGPS EZ-Guide 500 lightbar system. The Field-IQ system combines input control capabilities into one comprehensive, modular system, including map-based planter row unit shutoff for seed and liquid fertilizer, variable rate seeding, variable rate liquid fertilizer, variable rate spreading, and real-time variable rate nitrogen application. The Field-IQ system also reduces the need for complex calibrations.

For more information, visit www.trimble.com/agriculture.

INTEGRA Display
According to AgLeader, the new INTEGRA display is a year-round hub for a precision farming operation. large, full-color 12.1-inch HD touchscreen display that is easy to read and offers powerful, year-round precision farming tools. Core functionality of the display includes built-in manual guidance, full-screen mapping, planter and application control, yield monitoring, real-time data logging and automated steering. Four video camera inputs provide a better view of equipment operation and safety with live video.

For more information, go to www.agleader.com.

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