Better Farming – September 2016

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52 Farm News First > Better Farming September 2016
MACHINERYAT WORK
What you are
after, though, is to
see the variance in
crop yield across
the field. As long as
the yield reads
within reason and
it reads the highs
and lows properly,
that is what is
important. If the
system is off a few
per cent, that is, in
my opinion,
irrelevant. (Be-
sides, even a weigh
wagon loaded
improperly is off
way more than
most people think,
since most weigh
wagons only have
three load cells.
You need six to
eight load cells to
compensate for side hills, load distribution, etc.) What you
are after is to get a good layout of the field, in terms of
where the low- and high-yielding areas are located.
Today, you can find many office software programs to
read your yield data. Most programs can accommodate the
overlay of different maps on top of each other. One exam-
ple of an overlay would be placing the yield map over the
tile map or soil map so you can see both at the same time.
Another would be putting last year’s corn yield map over
this year’s bean yield map. Numerous possibilities exist; ask
your agronomist. Or, you can ask your custom applicator
for his maps and see what he did for you. Were there test
strips and do you know where they were located? It is not
hard anymore to transfer data, so use that to your benefit!
You can measure your harvested crop against your field
inputs to see if the costs paid off.
With corn and bean harvest around the corner, use yield
mapping to your advantage. And, yes, every year is differ-
ent, so multiple years’ worth of data is better than a single
year’s data. Start collecting and ask your dealer for advice.
Most of them have trained staff who can give you many
pointers, including the specifics on your machine and if
you have the technology needed.
Yield mapping is the building block for considerations of
crop management planning. It will show what works with
your way of farming. It will show how different varieties
perform side by side in your field, not the companies’ test
plots! It will confirm if what you did was the right thing or
not. BF
Jaap Kroondijk is a farm boy mechanic who lives near Woodstock.
GETTY