The Latest Precision Ag Products

Looking for brand new precision ag tools, such as assisted steering, site-specific application control, or the latest Global Navigation Satellite System guidance product? Look no further. New products from AutoFarm and Trimble, described below, have just hit the marketplace.

Affordable Steering

AutoFarm now offers growers a new hands-free GPS steering solution that is affordable and easy to use. The OnTrac2 GPS Assisted Steering System eliminates skips and overlaps, lowers fuel consumption, expands the seasonal operating window, and reduces operator stress and fatigue.

The unit’s split-gear design does not require removal of the steering wheel for installation. The OnTrac2 is said to simply latch on and off for fast transfer across multiple brands and types of vehicles — tractors, sprayers, spreaders, or combines. Its high-torque, positive gear drive delivers the turning power needed to control agricultural vehicles while eliminating the wheel slip. In addition, the precision electro-mechanical drive runs quietly when in operation.

“The OnTrac2 system is designed to be installed without removing the steering wheel and with a minimum of tools,” says Deane Malott, AutoFarm product marketing manager. “In fact, with optional switch kits, transferring the unit from one vehicle to another requires no tools and takes just minutes. Plus, it’s designed to give customers true hands-free GPS assisted steering at a visual guidance price point.”

With OnTrac2 in operation, vehicle operators focus on the task at hand while performing tillage, spraying, spreading, or harvesting operations with greater accuracy, covering more ground faster and more efficiently. OnTrac2 works straight A-B lines, contours, headlands, or pivot circles, reducing overlap to save fuel, fertilizer, chemicals, and time.

For more information, call 877-947-7327 or go to www.gpsfarm.com.

Two New Products From Trimble

Trimble has two new offerings to help vegetable growers apply inputs quickly and accurately: the Variable Rate Application (VRA) option and the FmX integrated display Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) that offers a wide range of precision agriculture applications in a single package.

First up is Trimble’s VRA option that is being added to the company’s AgGPS EZ-Guide 500 lightbar guidance system. The VRA capability provides site-specific application control allowing growers to apply inputs such as fertilizer, anhydrous ammonia, and seed only where it is needed and at the rate needed to reduce costs and improve agriculture operations.

The VRA option allows the user to input a field prescription map into the EZ-Guide 500 system. The system reads the data, sends the appropriate rate information to the application controller, and applies the precise amount of inputs to the field. The EZ-Guide 500 VRA option is compatible with the Trimble EZ-Boom as well as a variety of rate controllers, such as the Raven 400 and 600 SCS series, Hardi HC5500, Rawson Accurate, and other rate controllers.

The VRA option is said to be easy to use and affordable. Once a user has a prescription map in an industry-standard SHP file format, loading it into the EZ-Guide 500 is simple via a USB flash drive.

EZ-Guide 500’s VRA features are designed specifically for growers and custom applicators alike. Adding VRA to a grower’s existing EZ-Guide 500 is a $750 option. The payback on the investment can be rapid, considering that some fields can yield up to an $88 per acre benefit in saved input costs.

“In today’s agricultural economy, with falling commodity prices and rising input prices, farmers need a variety of cost-efficient technological alternatives at their disposal,” says Erik Arvesen, Trimble’s general manager of agriculture. “Single-product variable rate is a rapidly growing and accepted practice that is helping farmers reduce costs to maximize profits. The variable rate option allows the user to place the optimum amount of product in the specified location to help farmers find the perfect balance between productivity and input costs.”

Entry cost for the optional VRA capability is $2,995 for the EZ-Guide 500 plus $750 for VRA option totaling $3,745. The VRA option for the EZ-Guide 500 lightbar system is expected to be available this month.

Display System

The second new product from Trimble is the FmX display with dual integrated Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) receivers for precision ag applications. The AgGPS FmX integrated display is said to be the first display system in the industry to work as a stand-alone manual guidance system or as part of an automated guidance, implement control, or steering system.

Growers can use the FmX display for GNSS control needs including applications that require one or two receivers, such as vehicle guidance, a pull-behind implement, or leveling and drainage equipment. The FmX display integrates easily with Trimble’s AgGPS Autopilot automated steering system, TrueTracker for precision guidance of an implement or with the FieldLevel II system for dual and tandem scraper control. Growers also can vary crop inputs, control a planter, map fields, and view video camera input of field operations with one display.

The FmX display’s touch screen is 12.1 inches, approximately 35% larger than the industry standard 10.4-inch screen. In addition, Transcend technology, a proprietary Trimble positioning capability, is also integrated into the FmX display, providing users with high accuracy and flexible solutions for agriculture applications and environments.

The FmX features two integrated, high-performance GNSS receivers, so no additional receivers are necessary to control a tractor and implement. Optional 450 or 900 MHz radios are also integrated into the display for real time kinematic (RTK) applications, along with support for up to four external video cameras. Both receivers include GPS and GLONASS (L1/L2/G1/G2) capability, offering a range of accuracy levels up to RTK GLONASS. FmX integrated display starts at $5,995 and options are priced separately.

For more information, call 800-874-6253 or go to www.trimble.com/agriculture.