A new, lower cost, portable grain tester has arrived on the market.
Barry Deiters of Deere said the GT-30300 is accurate from five to 45 percent moisture and will deliver test weights to within half a pound per bushel.
The new unit delivers accurate temperature readings from 5 to 45 C and provides details like that through a backlit LCD display on the machine.
Dieters said the unit will hold more than 40 grain calibrations in its memory and will average the analysis from three, six or nine samples to ensure accuracy.
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It will export data and import software updates through a USB port.
The GT-30300 will compete with the Mini-GAC Plus, a cup type unit that Dickey-john released in 2008. The unit won international awards for its engineering and praise from farmers for its utility and accuracy. One of its most popular features was eliminating the need for the weighing of the samples before testing.
Its twin, the Ag-Mac Plus, is a product of Ohio based Agratronix, as is the GT-30300.
Many farms have elevator-type testers, which is important since those former 10 kilometre trips to the elevator might now be 100 km.
Combines come with on-board moisture testing, but producers are often loath to trust their storage decisions entirely to the combine’s read-out. As well, on-site field testers become fairly attractive when it comes to grain drying and turning grain in the bin yard.
Small screw-type, whole grain testers also have their limitations, and there is a tendency for oilseeds to gum up the cap. As well, small sample sizes and temperature extremes can be a problem for these pocket-sized units.
Pricing for the Deere unit hasn’t been announced, the Agratronix sells for about $350 and the Dickey-john machine sells for about $550.
For more information, visit www. agratronix.com/30100.html, deere.com or www.dickey-john.com.
