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Author Archives: cdemuro

  1. How Precision Ag Pumps Up Profits

    One of the most frequently asked questions farmers have about precision ag is: Will it pay off?

    Most farmers find the answer to be yes. Whether it’s by streamlining workflows, reducing over-application of farm inputs or leveraging quality farm data to make better decisions, precision ag increases both productivity and profitability. 

    Here are four common ways it can have a positive impact on your bottom line.

    1. Save on Farm Inputs

    According to data from the 2017 Census of Agriculture, farm input costs increased an average of 2.48% from 2012, while farm profits dropped an average of 1.59%. With precision ag, you can reduce farm inputs while still protecting your yields and profitability.

    Variable-rate and section control technologies combined with prescription maps can help achieve this by applying the right amount of product to the right place in your field and should yield measurable improvement in the first year. One Canadian farmer was able to reduce his overall fungicide costs by a third with variable-rate technology.

    Other precision ag tools like GreenSeeker and WeedSeeker 2 use optical sensors to provide the right amount of nitrogen and herbicide, respectively, to apply as you move throughout your fields. We’ve found that the WeedSeeker 2 can cut chemical costs by up to 90%, and while using GreenSeeker in a corn-soybean rotation can increase corn yield by 18 bushels per acre.

    1. Reduce Costly Errors

    If you have several employees on your farm, using precision ag software like Work Orders can simplify the process of assigning and tracking field work to increase productivity. It can also further protect your profits by reducing the potential for expensive errors, such as spraying an input like dicamba under the wrong weather conditions or making an application to the wrong field. 

    1. Make Profit-Driving Decisions

    While precision ag can do a lot of the legwork in reducing expenses and boosting yield, it also gives you the power to make better decisions. As Jordan Wallace of GPS Ontario shared in a previous blog post, one grower he worked with learned from his yield data that a drowned-out pocket in his field was actually impacting 15 acres because it increased water saturation levels. This data showed that if he could fix the drainage zone, it would bring his field back into profitable production.

    1. Get a Quick ROI with Guidance and Steering

    For those new to precision ag, the one technology that can offer the fastest ROI is guidance and steering, with autosteer providing an immediate benefit. This is because of how quickly and accurately guidance and steering will help you complete your field applications. 

    A survey conducted in North Dakota found that of the 34% of farms using GPS guidance systems, machine time and fuel consumption both reduced around 6%, and of the 27% using autosteer, machine time and fuel consumption were further reduced by 5.75% and 5.33%, respectively. With autosteer, this translates to 492 gallons of fuel saved per farm and the monetized value of time saved at $851.27.

    With some crops, it may bring even bigger payoffs. University of Georgia research found autosteer used in peanut production significantly reduced digging losses when inverting peanuts, reduced overlaps on spraying and tillage, and improved overall efficiency, resulting in a one-year payback for many farmers. 

    Trimble customers can attest to these savings. Colorado farmer Troy Seaworth discovered that Trimble’s RTK guidance cut his farm’s fuel usage in half. It also reduced their hours, and he says every hour in the tractor costs $60-$80, making the savings significant.  

    And as California farmer Tom Barcellos told Successful Farming magazine, an automated steering system from Trimble “turned out to be an unbelievable investment,” as he saw a 10-15% savings in fuel, along with improved efficiency, reduced operator fatigue, and less wear and tear on machinery.

    Pushing Higher Profits with Precision Ag

    These examples are just the start of how precision ag can help make farms more profitable.  To learn more about precision ag and how it can boost your bottom line, download the free Ultimate Guide to Precision Ag ebook.

  2. 4 Steps to Get Started with Precision Ag

    There are seemingly endless benefits to adopting precision ag equipment and technology on your farm. Precision agriculture can help save you valuable time and product while increasing your ROI in overall efficiency and profit.

    A 2016 USDA Economic Research Service report found that the average farm operating profit of precision ag adopters was $66 per acre higher than non-adopters.

    But figuring out how to get started with precision ag and determining which technologies to adopt takes some thoughtful analysis. Here are four steps to get started with success.

    1. Identify Your Goals

    Any investment you make in your operation, whether it’s a planter, fertilizer, or precision ag solution, needs to be purchased with the intention to achieve a specific goal.

    Before buying a precision ag product or service, ask yourself: What problem will this help me solve?

    Let’s review some common issues farmers face and which precision ag options offer solutions.

    Problems: I’m tired from driving; I’m running over plants during in-field operations
    Solution: Guidance and steering, corrections services

    Implementing guidance and steering solutions like Trimble’s Autopilot frees up farmers to focus on the operation taking place instead of driving, which not only reduces operator fatigue but allows farmers to catch and correct any errors immediately.

    But even with auto steer, vehicles may not follow a guidance line perfectly straight. Instead, they’ll “snake” their way across that line as they move down the field, which can lead to damaged crops during future passes. Correction services like RTX solve this problem by keeping the vehicle within a half-inch of deviation on either side of the guidance line.

    Problems: I don’t know where there could be improvements; I have data, but I don’t know how to interpret it
    Solutions: Yield monitors, software management

    If you’re not sure what problems you need to solve or where you could make improvements to your operation, then you need data. Yield monitors are one of the best solutions for collecting data and help you evaluate what’s going on in your fields. The more data you have, the better informed your decisions will be.

    But if you have data and don’t know how to interpret it or what your next action steps should be, software management can help you make sense of the information and identify what problems you need to correct.

    Problems: My crops are inconsistent; I’m overapplying inputs
    Solution: Variable-Rate Technology

    If your goal is to have a uniform crop and to only apply inputs exactly where they’re needed at the right amount, you need variable-rate technology. By utilizing yield and soil maps to create prescriptions, variable-rate will allow you to apply different rates of seed, fertilizer, and other inputs to different areas of a field. Areas naturally high in nutrients, for example, may receive less fertilizer, while lower areas may receive more.

    For more examples of precision technologies and the problems they solve, check out the FREE Ultimate Guide to Precision Ag ebook.

    2. Do Your Research

    One way to ensure you’re making a smart purchase is to find reviews and testimonials of the precision ag products you’re interested in from farmers with similar problems and goals.

    While some solutions like guidance and steering will likely be a smart investment on any farm, the benefit of others may depend on your operation. For example, a farm with broad-acre crops may not see the same benefits of high accuracy corrections services as a farm with high-value row crops.

    Consider the climate, crops, acres and other key aspects of someone else’s operation to gather a fair assessment of whether the technology will have a similar impact on your farm.

    3. Ensure Interoperability

    Once you’ve decided on a precision ag technology to invest in, you need to check that it will work with your existing equipment and any precision ag technology you already have. Otherwise, you may not reap the full benefits of precision ag and may wind up with more problems than you started with.

    Farm software should be able to automatically sync guidance lines, field names, boundaries, materials, implements, vehicles and operator info across all devices on the farm so that data is available everywhere at all times. And check to see if your equipment uses ISOBUS, as this is the industry standard that allows machines, implements and displays to “talk” to each other, regardless of brand.

    4. Get Support

    You don’t have to venture into precision ag alone. Trimble’s resellers, including our premier Vantage network, can give you guidance on what precision ag products will benefit you the most, help you get set up and provide support when you need it.

    If you’re ready to get started with precision ag, find your nearest Trimble reseller here. For more information on precision ag and what it can do for your operation, check out the Ultimate Guide to Precision Ag ebook today.