Things are going well on the farm. The technology is running the equipment efficiently and collecting data. But once the combine is parked, what do you do with all that information?
Part three in this series looks at how Rocky Mountain Equipment helps farmers use the data that’s collected most effectively.
Any farmer who has bought a new tractor, seeder, combine or just about any other piece of major machinery in recent years, knows that the technology in a piece of equipment has become a major deciding factor when making a purchase.
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“When we buy new equipment we’re looking at how it will work with the equipment we already have,” says Gary Flitton, who farms with his sons and son-in-law in Champion, Alta. “The most important thing about the equipment used to be how we put seed in the ground, how we pack it, treat it and the efficiency and size of the equipment. But if we aren’t getting data to see what is happening in the field, then what use is the equipment?” says Flitton.
Services from companies like Decisive Farming and partner Rocky Mountain Equipment (RME) are investments many business-minded growers are making today. They want to make sure they’re getting the most from their equipment and the data collected.
Flitton says this partnership is crucial. “One of the key factors when we purchase new equipment is the support from the dealerships and the merging of tech and other expertise,” says Flitton. “For instance, we were working with Decisive when they joined up with RME. Now it’s all a little easier and we have even more reason to continue to go back to RME for future purchases.”
The importance and challenges of data collection
Seeding time is usually the first chance farmers have to put the data they collected the previous year to work, and to begin collecting information for next year’s decisions.
The importance of data collection doesn’t escape Curtis Borduzak, General Manager, Ag Sales Support, for RME. “Our growers won’t be able to achieve strong results if the data they’re collecting and using to make those decisions is weak,” says Borduzak.
RME’s Ag Optimization Specialists (AOS) work with growers to make sure their equipment is ready to go to the field and collect the best data possible. “We ensure all the software is up-to-date, and the fields, farms and other data is loaded into the machinery before the season starts,” says Borduzak. “So when they enter a new field, the software knows and there’s no delay or questions about it being input correctly in the monitor.”
Flitton and his family have embedded technology into their operation. “We have yield maps for every piece of ground we touch,” says Flitton. “We’re using technology to operate our irrigation pivots and manage our grain bins. Every action, with the exception of harrowing and rolling is recorded in the database. We can bring it up for any point in time and see what we did and the result.”
However, all the data collected may not always be in the same format or language. All of the major equipment manufacturers have their own systems and file types, which aren’t always compatible with other manufacturers. The challenge is to bring such diverse data together so that it can create an accurate picture of the results.
How to put the data to work
Companies like Decisive Farming play an important role in helping to manage communications between the technology on different makes and types of equipment. “We pull all of the information together in My Farm Manager, clean it up and calibrate it and then put it into a format that can be used to make management decisions,” says Schmaltz.
For example, two combines operating on the same farm may not be set identically so their yield maps must be calibrated. Then the data from the grain cart and scale should be included to provide a complete and accurate yield report for the farmer. This report will join other reports, satellite mapping and any other data collected to provide a clear picture of what went well that season and where there are opportunities to improve.
“Planning with our customers is critical when it comes to customizing the data solution,” says Borduzak. “Our meeting before the season helps us determine what they want to accomplish with their data and on their farms. It’s their data. Our role is to facilitate its collection and use by their whole team including precision ag advisors, agronomists, marketers and any others.”
The next step is developing the variable rate prescription for the grower. The data collected in areas such as yield, seeding and fertilization rates, as well as soil sampling, satellite imagery (such as Normalized Difference Vegetation Index or NDVI) and weather data, is brought together to predict scenarios and possible outcomes. These prescriptions are then put into the correct format, loaded into the equipment’s computer and they go to work managing the seeding and fertilization application rates throughout the field.
Telemetry enables the sharing and use of data throughout the season as it connects the equipment with a shared database. This enables a download of data so you can connect with the equipment remotely for two-way communications. “A grower can download performance and mechanical data from the equipment so we can see it in the office,” says Borduzak. “Then we can send data back with a fix, or send a tech out who now has the information and parts he needs to fix the issue.”
When asked, what’s next for agricultural data, Schmaltz had this to say. “As we collect more and better information, we can start to hone in on areas where we can be more profitable and sustainable. But to just say ‘I want my operation to be more profitable’ is like trying to eat an elephant. Once the growers start collecting good data, they can break profitability down into manageable areas for improvement.”
Borduzak agrees. “I think farmers have been looking for a way to not just have data but for a way to look at the agronomy and profitability of their operation so they can plan effectively for the coming year.”
As well, Schmaltz feels applications to track the use of chemical and crop rotations are under utilized. “We have a herbicide resistance problem in North America,” says Schmaltz. “The ability to track herbicides and manage chemical rotations to reduce the possibility of herbicide resistant weeds is there now.”
Only a small percentage of farmers today are getting the full value for their investment in technology, but the information and tools are there as well as the support network to make the most of them. In an era of increasing consumer interest in how food is grown, the type of information that can be gathered may become even more important.
This is part three of a three-part series. The main focus of the series was on technology in agriculture and the way the collection and use of data is changing farming in Canada and around the world.
