An on-the-go protein analyzer that can be mounted on the combine should be available in the next two years.
Developed by Case Corp. and American manufacturing giant Textron, the technology may interest Canadian farmers trying to take advantage of new Canadian Wheat Board rules for protein premiums.
The protein monitoring technology is being designed to work as a part of the AFS Universal Display computer system sold with Case IH axial-flow combines. It will be mounted in the combines’ bubble-up auger.
Linda Knoll, a product developer for Case, said Textron would build the sensing equipment and ensure that it can stand the rigors of field life. Case will integrate it into its current lineup of combines.
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Knoll said the monitor will be more accurate than many bench-top testers and will be self-calibrating.
“We are working with other companies such as Milestone Technologies (of Blackfoot, Idaho) to package existing equipment so that it works together and is reliable for the farm,” she said.
Effective marketing
Phil Williams, grain quality analyst with the Canadian Grain Commission, has been working on the project. He said the Case-Textron system will use the same near-infrared technology that powers some of the latest stationary testing equipment in grain elevators. The ability to test protein on the go could make precision agriculture more affordable and farmgate marketing more effective, he said.
“Farmers need to find every efficiency they can.”
“If it means preserving the identity of a single grade of grain from within one field or planning to even up fertilizer response across an entire field, they need to know what is happening and where. Then they can determine why and what they can do about it.”
As farmers begin to segregate grain for blending to obtain protein premiums, they also will improve the efficiency of the grain handling system, he said.
“Protein segregation will greatly improve Canada’s competitiveness in the grain industry and this will be the first portable unit built into a combine.”
Knowing what is taken from a particular field can be as important as knowing what was in the soil in the first place.
Williams said the ability to record fertilizer uptake and soil response information helps to fill gaps in the precision farming map. Until now, yield monitoring could determine productivity of any point in a field, but the overall quality was not known.
Protein levels directly relate to the amount of nitrogen used by the plant.
A system that monitors yield and protein would help farmers track fertilizer use, Williams said, which in turn would allow them to create specific fertilizer prescriptions for different parts of a field.
Dan Long of Montana State University has spent two seasons working with the Milestone technologies system and thinks it might even replace soil sampling on a grid when applying fertilizer at variable rates.
“Farmers will be able to base fertilizer decisions on maps made from protein mapping,” he said.
“Combine that with yield maps and you have a pretty complete picture of any field.”
Long said he has seen a 13 percent improvement in spring wheat yields when variable rate application of fertilizer was used versus traditional global or averaged applications. Protein monitors were one of the information-gathering techniques used to achieve those results.
On market soon
Long expects that if Case and Textron can overcome a few remaining computer software hurdles that are hampering calibration accuracy, farmers may see protein sensor-equipped combines threshing prairie fields as early as the 2000 harvest season.
Price will be a key influence on demand, since low grain prices will force farmers to avoid buying equipment that doesn’t provide a quick return.
“We can’t say exactly what this unit will cost,” Williams said.
Stationary protein meters now sell for $25,000.
“I can say that it will be a lot less than that. They will be affordable. They will have to be or no one would buy one.”
Research continues in three countries on two continents. Iowa State University is looking at corn and soybean options for the system while Montana State University is working on precision farming fertilizer applications. In Canada, grain commission research may tackle cereals and peas for livestock feed. Cereals research is also taking place in Australia.
The unit will first be calibrated for wheat, corn and soybeans. Case hopes to introduce other small grains as its research allows.
In Europe, another group of academics and corporations is looking at field level protein sensing for forages.
