MachineryLink

Deere Launches Weather Station Products

Jim Patrico
By  Jim Patrico , Progressive Farmer Senior Editor
The system can collect data direct from fields no matter what kind of crop is planted. (Photo courtesy of John Deere)

Ever meet a farmer who couldn't tell you how much rain he had at home during the night? Probably not.

What he might not be able to tell you, however, is how much rain he had in that field he owns on the west side of the county. Nor can he tell you what the soil moisture levels are in most of his fields. Understanding that, John Deere has introduced Field Connect. It's a system to enable producers to remotely monitor what the weather is doing in their fields and how that affects growing conditions.

The data Field Connect sends wirelessly to a secure website can help a farmer make more informed decisions about when to apply nutrients, when to spray certain crop protection products and when to turn on and off the irrigation pumps.

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Field Connect is part of the FarmSight strategy John Deere introduced a couple of years ago. It's based on collecting data in the field and sharing it online via remote Internet connections. The basic Field Connect gateway device can send information to the web using either a satellite connection or a cellular modem. Solar panels and batteries mean the system does not require a constant power supply.

Soil moisture probes for the system come in three lengths -- from one-half meter to one-and-one-half meters. Each of the capacitance probes can detect soil moisture in as many as six spots along its length to give a full picture of the soil profile. The probes transmit that information to the gateway as frequently as every 30 minutes. The gateway sends the data to the website every two hours.

Deere recently added tools to the basic Field Connect package. The new weather station, rain gauge and temperature sensor are self-explanatory. The pyranometer and leaf wetness sensor might need some explanation.

A pyranometer measures solar radiation falling on a location. It can be a valuable tool to help determine evaporation rates and therefore the timing of the next irrigation application. It helps a producer predict when it would be most effective to start a center pivot rolling.

A leaf wetness sensor mimics the size and shape of the particular crop Field Connect is meant to service. It uses electric current to measure resistance and thus the amount of water or ice sitting on a leaf. "The longer moisture remains on a leaf the higher the likelihood you can have a fungus or other diseases infect the plant," said Nicholas Shafer, John Deere Intelligent Solutions Group product manager. With that knowledge, a producer can decide whether to apply water now or to wait for leaves to dry.

Field Connect currently does not interface directly with irrigation systems; that is for the producer to do. But, said Shafer, "Looking forward, we are certainly considering integrating the systems to make them seamless."

If you don't irrigate but do have a gated drainage system, said Shafer, Field Connect's data can help you decide how quickly to drain a field.

Subscriptions for Field Connect start at about $1,000 for six months and $1,300 for a year. The gateway equipment lists for about $1,500. A one-meter probe costs about $1,000.

(AG)

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