Green Atlantic Farms Precision Agriculture

This map shows the disparity of durum yield mainly related to the lack of moisture. However, the center yellow spot shows the effect of a chemical residue carryover from the previous cropping year that affected the growth of the plants.

With that type of information we can try different management for different parts of the field.

After about 3 years of data, we should be able to vary the rate of fertilizer according to the potential of the different zones.

Precision Agriculture is a way of optimizing profit per acre. The harvest of reliable information is at its core. However, without proper utilization of this information the results can be counterproductive.

Yield Recording:

The yield monitor is a tool to measure crop yield as the crop is harvested. The yield value, crop moisture and elevation are recorded on a storage card every 2 seconds and associated to a location value by latitude and longitude provided by the GPS (Global Positioning System). That value can be viewed in the cab. The yield is usually proportional to the amount of matter entering the machine but at times can be totally unrelated.

The storage card is taken later on to a desktop computer and downloaded to produced geo-referenced maps.

Scouting:

During the growing season, spend some time checking for potential problems in fields. For example: weeds, insect pressure, disease, etc.

When trouble areas are spotted they are often recorded by GPS to be able to come back later for treatment or to find out what real impact these areas have on production at harvest. The software used is Sitemate from Farmworks.

Guidance:

During the crop year we pass over the land several times for seeding, spraying and scouting. For spraying, for example, the pass width is 100'. Each pass has to be as parallel and accurate as it can possibly be to avoid:

Double application, which is a waste of product and can be harmful to the crop.
Skips, which are untreated areas .

We use an Ipaq handheld computer with a software called Guidemate. The unit is mounted in the tractor.

In this example, Guide Mate shows that the driver is starting to veer off course to the right. The driver just has to come back on track to the right.

The world of agriculture, like any other industry, is always influenced by ever changing technologies.

One of them is GPS (Global Positioning System).

We have worked with some aspects of GPS in the past but are integrating it more and more on the farm in precision agriculture.

GPS is a technology using a signal from space satellites to provide an exact location on earth by latitude and longitude. How can this be used on the farm?

Box 50

Edgeley, SK S0G 1L0

Canada

Phone: 306-699-2262

Fax: 306-699-2262

Email: franck@greenatlantic.com