Systems Simplify Prescription Planting
New Services Streamline Changing Seeding Rates on the Go
When Jeff Frank started planting last spring, he brought his iPad with him into the tractor cab. He clicked on the FieldView Plus app and plugged the iPad into the 20/20 SeedSense monitor. Then he put his tractor into gear and started across the field pulling his John Deere 1790 planter.
All that was left for Frank to do was sit in the tractor seat and monitor the system as it changed planting rates on the go over 320 acres of corn.
"It's a good thing I have autosteer, because I could watch it all happen and didn't have to drive," Frank quipped.
PROMISING PROGRAMS
Variable-rate planting is the next frontier in precision farm technology. Companies like Monsanto with FieldScripts and WinField Solutions with the R7 Tool have streamlined the process of making and using variable-rate planting prescriptions. Both experienced and first-time users of variable-rate prescriptions are finding these new programs easy to use.
Growers pay a per-acre subscription to use these systems but also receive plenty of expertise and support to make the technology successful.
The Progressive Farmer talked to two farmers who tried the systems in 2013
MONSANTO'S FIELDSCRIPTS
Frank is among the first Midwest farmers to use FieldScripts on a trial basis. A self-professed technology fan, the Auburn, Iowa, corn and soybean farmer easily met the FieldScripts requirements of at least two years yield data and a recent grid soil sample. He also agreed to retrofit his planter with the system's required equipment.
"The year before, I created my own variable-rate planting map for some of my ground, and it was a nightmare," Frank explains. "I had my son help me get the prescription right."
His son wasn't needed for FieldScripts. "I was shocked by how simple it was," Frank reports. "This is one of the most exciting things to happen since autosteer."
Once Frank signed his release for the program, his data went through the cloud to a secure SST program where it's kept for the certified FieldScripts seed dealer. That information is used to write a seeding prescription that best fits the FieldScripts management zones across a field.
"There are more than 20 layers of information used to write the algorithm for these prescriptions," explains Brent Schwenneker, of Monsanto Integrated Farming Systems. FieldScripts is the first commercial product from the company's Integrated Farming Systems platform.
DOWNLOAD DATA
The certified dealers sit down with iPads and the customers to review the final scripts. "Once the customers approve what they see, they hit export, and FieldScripts appears in the Precision Planting FieldView Plus app on the iPad. The customer will then download the prescription to the iPad through the app," he says.
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The next step doesn't occur until planting when the iPad is plugged into the 20/20 SeedSense monitor to control seed flow.
Frank was impressed when he met with the dealer to review his prescription. "I've farmed my ground since 1977, so I know it," he says. "If I were to make a prescription, it would look like this. FieldScripts put the right amount of seed on the right ground."
His FieldScripts certified dealer suggested a choice of three hybrids, and Frank picked the highest-yielding number. In the past, he planted 36,000 seeds per acre across a field. The FieldScripts prescription varied seed population from 28,000 to 36,000 seeds. Overall, the average was 35,000 seeds per acre.
PRESCRIPTIONS VARY
"If he changed hybrids, Frank's prescription could be very different," Schwenneker added. "Hybrids react differently to plant density. Some you can push to a 38,000 population, and some won't respond much past 35,000. Jeff can spend his time manipulating light spots in his field, but he doesn't have the population knowledge and years of research that have been put into this program."
Frank likes that he can access information from FieldScripts on his iPad. He can review how planting went row by row with each skip and multiple shown.
Harvest data is transferred from the combine's yield monitor to the cloud where FieldScripts will access it after harvest. The yield data will be analyzed and a report sent to Frank within 10 days. Frank's preliminary results showed a 6- to 8-bushel-per-acre advantage on the variable-rate planted ground.
Several attachments were required for Frank's planter for the system to work. But Schwenneker says the program will require only three attachments for 2014: the 20/20 SeedSense monitor, 20/20 Row Flow controller and FieldView Plus. Most major brands of planters can be outfitted with these components.
FieldScripts' launch is currently limited to growers in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa and Minnesota. Farmers interested in the program need to obtain two years of yield data, which may be a stumbling block for some.
"I talked to a lot of prospects who wanted to try FieldScripts but couldn't find their field data," Schwenneker says. "Even though they've been mapping for six to seven years, they didn't know where the data was."
Speaking from experience, Frank says, "A lot of people have yield monitors in their combines but don't have the software to download it. Unless you download the data and take it to be processed, you don't have anything."
Cost of FieldScripts is $10 per acre. For more information, visit www.fieldscripts.com.
WINFIELD'S R7 TOOL
Jeff Tiemann planned to try variable-rate planting after he purchased a Case IH 1240 16-row, 30-inch planter in 2011. With 60% of his farm irrigated, he could see the benefit of varying population rates from irrigated ground to dryland corners.
By last winter, the Royalton, Minn., farmer was ready. Tiemann signed up for WinField's new R7 Tool, a web-based software program that helps growers write variable-rate seeding prescriptions. WinField's agronomy adviser Matt Mesenbrink helped Tiemann use the R7 Tool for corn and sunflower acres.
They downloaded harvest data off Tiemann's yield monitor and layered it with information from WinField on yield potential data, soil type and hybrids. Tiemann's field maps also were updated with recent tiling. All information can be accessed on his iPad.
FOUR ZONES
"In the past, we used just one population rate to plant a whole field," he says. The R7 Tool helped Tiemann develop four population zones ranging from 26,000 seeds per acre on dryland to 36,000 seeds on top irrigated ground. Most fields needed just three zones.
"You can have an infinitely variable number of zones," Mesenbrink explained. "Some fields go from sand hills to clay bottoms, but we don't go over four or five zones. You are going to make that planter work overtime. So we smooth out the edges and keep it general the first year." Population adjustments are made within two seconds in the field.
Tiemann added, "When we started the prescription, we weren't going to do all the corn acres. But once we got rolling, it was easy to tackle."
The completed prescription was loaded onto a memory card and plugged into Tiemann's planter monitor when he was ready to plant.
"It went smooth," Tiemann says. "I pulled into the field, and on the monitor I chose the name of the farm. You hit it, and a map of the field comes up." His autosteer and planter controls took over. He was along for the ride.
"We batted 99% from start to finish," he says. "It was easy to do once you are sitting in the tractor." Frank's Case IH planter was factory equipped for variable-rate planting, and the Case IH FM-750 monitor controlled it.
SATELLITE IMAGES
A key part of the R7 Tool is access to satellite images throughout the growing season. The images may be used to build prescriptions for applying fertilizer in-season. The images also show disease and pest issues that may be handled with spot treatments.
"I think in-season imagery will become more valuable," Mesenbrink says. "We're trying to increase yields and are splitting nitrogen in this area. We will probably look at foliar feeding, too. The R7 Tool will be used with its in-season imagery."
The full value of variable-rate planting will come after harvest. Tiemann's yield files will be pulled from the monitor and overlaid on his seeding maps and zones. He and Mesenbrink will see how the change in seeding rates changed yields.
NO MORE GUESSWORK
"The combine should just validate what we did from January until harvest," Mesenbrink says. "The whole idea of the R7 Tool is to take the guesswork out of crop production."
Tiemann did see an immediate benefit from the technology after harvesting some irrigated fields. The yield map displayed distinct rings of poorer yields under certain pivots. He realized the rings were caused by nozzles.
"It was pretty remarkable," he says. "I've farmed that ground for 20 years and didn't know something like that could make such a difference." He'll re-nozzle the pivots next year.
Tiemann and Mesenbrink agree interest has grown considerably in variable-rate planting in their area of Minnesota. But often farmers don't know where to go for help. Tiemann started with his local Centra Sota agronomist who put him in touch with Mesenbrink. He suggests other growers seek an agronomist for help, too.
Mesenbrink says the base rate for the R7 Tool is $5 per acre. For more information on WinField's R7 Tool, visit www.winfield.com/Farmer/Tools/ECMD2-0058307
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