Weather update Yield measurement
Yield measurement as the last puzzle piece
Yield measurement on combine harvesters is a piece of cake, but with harvesters it's a different story. The market for these systems is growing cautiously. One of the few providers is the Canadian Greentronics, of which a number of systems are now running in the Netherlands.
Ontario Greentronics has been building after-market systems for agricultural machinery since 1994. In addition to yield measurement, it also builds sonar sensors to determine working depth, sensors to limit drop heights and monitor boom height. Behind the company is the originally Dutch Menkveld family.
John Deere integration
Mechanization company Groenoord is already running a number of RiteYield yield measurement systems in the Netherlands. Robin Bos, specialist agricultural management systems (AMS) at Groenoord, imports and assembles sets on potato and beet harvesters in the central and northern Netherlands together with colleagues. A major advantage for the John Deere dealer is the seamless integration with John Deere GPS systems.
"Deere is opening up its serial connection to third parties to develop applications. Greentronics is one of the few that uses it," says Bos. "Users of a John Deere GS3 2630 or CommandCenter 4600 terminal can plug in the system and see live yields."
"A big advantage is that the data is available in the (free) portal of MyJohndeere. You can effortlessly print out a map of the yield data, where other systems come with a CSV file. You then need software to convert it into something clear. The users are not waiting for that extra threshold."
With or without ISObus
RiteYield is available in different versions. An Isobus system including installation costs about €10.000 at Groenoord. The Isobus connection means it can also be connected to Trimble FMX, TMX or Ag Leader terminals. “The control is displayed as a virtual terminal (VT) in the Isobus screen,” explains Bos. "Not every screen is suitable. You can still set up the system, but the logging of the data is not via the Isobus port. More is required for that."
The system is relatively simple and works via 2 bending strips (load cells). These are mounted on a conveyor belt in the harvester. The fuller the mat, the more the cells are loaded. The mat speed is also determined. An electronic spirit level (tilt sensor) registers the angle of the tire, because it usually moves along with the bunker filling.
John Deere dealers in the Netherlands have been given the opportunity to become a dealer. This is especially interesting for companies in arable regions. John Deere Netherlands is not involved with the products and the service goes directly through the manufacturer. Handy: contact can be made in Dutch.
Register Tare
Yield measurement is mainly used for potatoes and sugar beets. With onions, it becomes more difficult again, because harvesting and loading take place in 2 working passes and the product flow at the headlands is not uniform. Tare is the biggest challenge for harvested fruit. The system has to be calibrated by sending loads over the weighbridge.
Determining the tare percentage usually remains tricky business. A wet spot in the country theoretically gives a peak. Here you usually drive more slowly to make better use of the screening capacity. The display also logs a map of the vehicle speed. By superimposing both, you get a better picture of tare. The manually entered tare percentage is also logged.
Greentronics is working on a solution for this issue. The idea is that a camera registers the amount of soil and adjusts the measured value accordingly. Combine harvesters use a similar technique to record broken kernels and chaff. This could lead to a breakthrough in technology. After all, tare is the biggest bottleneck. "The disadvantage is that camera technology and the accompanying software are usually very expensive," Bos notes.
"The system only becomes interesting for a small group, while the demand for yield data is increasing. Companies realize that by combining soil, crop and yield data you get a complete picture of the situation in the field. Preferably with data on several Trial harvesting is intensive and does not provide a complete picture. Yield measurement does provide a representative picture of the entire plot."
Trace a batch
What the Canadian company is capable of, is that batches can be traced back to the shed with RiteTrace. "The store loader is equipped with sensors, so that it stores where the cargo is in the shed," Bos explains. "That is not interesting for the Netherlands. A grower knows the problem spots in the country and already keeps those loads separate when it is wet."
"However, for North America it's a different story," explains the manufacturer: "In Canada and the United States, arable farmers must have a report where each field is stored. This is controlled by the government. RiteTrace automates this. There there are many details in it, which makes it also of an agronomic value, and is not only intended for the government."
Not ex works
Groenoord is a dealer of AVR, but has also built it on other brands of (beet) harvesters. Vervaet also supplies harvesters with the system built from the factory. Groenoord consults with AVR about the installation. Factory mounting the brackets makes it easy to mount the load cells. The sale and assembly remains with the dealers. The manufacturers cite the low numbers as a problem for adopting the technology on a large scale. They then have to take care of the service in-house and that is a step too far for now.
Another well-known system for yield measurement in harvesting fruits is YieldMasterPro from Precision Makers. This is sold by Vantage Agrometius. However, the manufacturer recently announced that it would stop production. It will also stop with the X-Pert systems with which a tractor can be controlled autonomously. More than 1 year ago, the company entered into a deal with Vantage Agrometius for the sale. This company is now looking for a new partner.
Niels van der Boom
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