The Start
We started our journey into the modern technology in Agriculture with a simple light bar for nitrogen application. From there we have greatly advanced our technology toolbox. We now have all of our heavy use machines equipped with auto-steer guidance. This includes our combine, sprayer, planting unit, and even our tillage tractors.
Planter
We currently plant with a Case IH 1250, 16 row, 30″ planter pulled by a New Holland T8.320. We have installed a wide range of parts from Precision Planting into the planter. We have the ability to write prescriptions for each individual field which determines the population on which we plant and each row is controlled individually which also enables for turn compensation and row shutoffs when coming into another row, this works directly with GPS for great accuracy which ultimately reduces seed and input costs and allows for a healthier and more productive crop. The planter also compensates for change soil types and compaction with individual weigh pin sensors for each row which determines the down pressure that particular row is experiencing. These weigh pins work in conjunction with hydraulic cylinders on each row that can react almost immediately as conditions change and supply the needed down pressure or in some cases the needed amount of lift so that we may achieve the proper down pressure on each row giving each seed the proper seed bed to grow. We also utilize residue managers in front of each row that are controlled by pneumatic cylinders to raise and lower on demand, these are used to move residue from previous crop to the side of row for the row unit to keep an accurate seed depth.
Sprayer
Our sprayer unit is a Case IH Patriot 3330. It is equipped with 120′ booms which can be used at 60′, 90′, or 120′ depending on the situation and field layout along with type of application. It has integrated GPS auto-steer which helps with overlap and also controls the 7 boom shutoffs for reducing over lap and reducing chemical usage which in return increases plant health and reduces chemical costs. It is also equipped with AutoBoom which controls the boom height above the crop or ground that is being sprayed over. This is achieved with 5 sensors along the boom that is constantly measuring the height and reacting to the readings instantaneously. All of these give us a very accurate chemical application all while saving on chemical and fuel costs.
Combine
Our Combine is a Case IH 7230, it is equipped with integrated GPS auto-steer, and is a Tier 4A Compliant machine which aids in fuel efficiency while reducing our carbon footprint, we compliment this class 7 combine with a Geringhoff North Star Elite XL 8 row corn head which is equipped with HeadSight which consists of 3 sensors that control the height of the head to the ground at the user set height. This makes corn harvest more efficient by keeping the head at the desired height which ensures harvesting all ears and helping with residue management. The head is also equipped with 8 stalk stompers, one for each row, this helps reduce premature tire wear on not only our harvesting equipment but also on our tillage equipment. For our harvesting of small grains we use a MacDon FD135 Flex Draper. The flex draper conforms to the ground with minimal ground pressure for an efficient cut in many challenging ground types.
Tractors
We have many different tractors that are used for a wide variety of jobs around the farm all the way from heavy field work to as simple as running an auger. Our 4 heavily field used tractors are all equipped with GPS auto-steer, 2 of these are simple auto-steer devices used for fuel and time efficiency, another is equipped with a rate controller along with the auto-steer, this makes the application of fertilizers such as nitrogen more efficient because it reduces amount of overlap in these applications along with the fuel and time savings. The last tractor is the tractor listed above that we utilize as our planting tractor. This unit aids in seed savings while being used on the planter along with fuel and time savings. It is also a Tier 4B compliant tractor which aids in fuel savings all while reducing our carbon footprint.