|
||
|
|
|
|
OBJECTIVES: 1. Name the components
of a yield monitoring system. |
||
|
YIELD MONITOR 1. 1. In the fall in the central and midwest states, farmers are busy harvesting grain crops like corn and soybeans they have planted. 2. Farmers use combines to harvest the grain from the fields. 3. These are large machines that remove the grain from the plant. 4. The picture to the rightshows a farmer harvesting a field of corn with a combine. |
Figure 1. Combine harvesting a field |
|
|
YIELD MONITOR 2. 1. Some combines have an advanced technology tool called a yield monitor on the combine. 2. A yield monitor
consists of these components: Mass flow sensor 3. The picture to the right shows a DGPS receiver mounted to a combine cab. 4. This unit collects
information from satellites orbiting the earth. 5. The GPS uses this
information to calculate a location on the earth’s surface in Longitude
and Latitude; for example, -96.627316 and 44.167630. 6. This information is sent to and recorded on a computer located in the combine cab. |
Figure 2. GPS receiver mounted on top of a combine cab. |
|
|
YIELD MONITOR 3. 1. The next 2 components of a yield monitor system are the mass flow sensor and moisture sensor. 2. The mass flow sensor
is located in the clean grain elevator on the inside of the combine. As
the grain is harvested and flows through the combine, it moves through
the clean grain elevator to the hopper. 3. The mass flow sensor
detects how much grain is moving through the combine. 4. The mass flow data is used to calculate how much grain flows through the combine. 5. The moisture sensor is located inside the clean grain elevator too.This records the moisture of the grain that is being harvested. 6. The grain moisture
is important to know because it will be used in calculating the grain
yield or how much the corn or soybeans were harvested from this area. 7. In the United States, amount of grain harvested is recorded in bushels / acre. 1 bushel of corn at 15.5% moisture weighs 56 lbs and 1 bushel of soybeans at 13% moisture weighs 60 lbs. 8. The area that grain
is collected over is 1 acre. 1 acre is 43560 square feet or about 209
by 209 ft square. 9. Why is moisture
content collected on grain and why is this important? 10. When plants grow in the soil over the summer time, the plants use water from the soil to produce more plant biomass and to produce grain. 11. As the grain matures in the fall, it drys down but some of the water from the growing season remains in the grain. 12. The amount of moisture in the grain affects the grain weight. To calculate the correct grain weight, the moisture is needed. |
|
 |
Figure 3. (above) Mass flow sensor, moisture sensor and clean grain elevator. Figure 4. (left) The mass flow is located inside the combine. |
|
YIELD MONITOR 4. 1. A speed sensor is located on the combine. This unit calculates how fast the combine is moving. This data is sent to the computer in the cab as well. 2. The computer that
receives the data from the GPS unit, the mass flow and moisture sensors
and speed sensor is mounted in the cab of the combine. 3. On this computer, the farmer selects which field to store the data. He can also name and determine the number of loads he has harvested from this field. 4. As the combine harvests grain from the field, the amount of grain harvested is displayed on the computer in bushels / acre. 5. What are bushels / acre? a. One bushel will hold 8 gallons. b. One acre is 43560 ft2 or an area about 209 by 209 ft square. c. Since the actual size of a corn grain or a soybean differ, the weight of the grain that occupies one bushel will differ. d. One bushel of corn at moisture of 15.5% weighs 56 lbs. e. One bushel of soybean at moisture of 13% weighs 60 lbs. f. So if we have corn that yield 150 bushels per acre, that means that over a 209 x 209 ft area, 8400 lbs of corn will be harvested over that area. g. The average semi truck trailer that can haul grain holds about 800 bushels of grain. |
|
 |
Figure 5. Computer in cab that receives the informtion from the (1) GPS, (2) moisture sensor and (3) mass flow sensor. |
|
YIELD MONITOR 5. 1. The data collected in the field (yield, speed, moisture, longitude and latitude) is recorded by the computer in the cab on a special storage device called a PCMCIA card. 2. These cards are usually more durable than floppy disks and can store larger amounts of data. |
Figure 6. Card that all the data collected is stored on. |
|
YIELD MONITOR 6. 1. The PCMCIA card is inserted in the computer in the cab and stores data like a floppy disk on a computer. 2. After a field is harvested, this card is removed and taken to a desktop computer in a producer’s home office. |
Figure 7. The computer in the cab writes the data collected in Fig. 5 to this card. This is called a PCMCIA card. |
|
YIELD MONITOR 7. 1. When the hopper that stores the grain on the combine is full, the farmer usually dumps the grain from the combine to a semi truck or wagon box pulled by a tractor. |
Figure 8. Dumping grain from the combine to a wagon box. |
|
YIELD MONITOR 8. 1. The farmer takes
the grain and unloads the grain into a bin on his farm using an auger
to move the grain from the wagon box to the top of the bin. 2. Some farmers haul their grain directly to elevators in town and do not store grain on their farms. 3. How much grain the farmer stores on his farm depends on how much bin room and the amount of grain harvested. |
Figure 9. Unloading the grain from a wagon to a bin for storage. |
|
YIELD MONITOR 9. 1. The farmer can
take the PCMCIA card from the yield monitor and download the data on his
desktop computer. 2. The farmer usually
needs special software written by the company that manufactured the yield
monitoring system to download the data Figure 10. (right) Using a computer to download the data from the card to a desktop computer. |
 |
|
YIELD MONITOR 10. 1. The farmer used
the mapping software to create yield maps of the fields he has harvested. 2. The map shows how areas in the field differed in yield. 3. In the map to the
right, the field yielded about 175 to 200 bu/A except on the tops of the
hills. The tops of the hills yield lower, only 100 to 125 bu/A. 4. Once the farmer knows how areas in the field differ in yield, he can start making management decisions to improve the production in that area |
Figure 11. A yield monitor map from a corn field overlaid on a topography map. |
|
5. For example, the
farmer may decide to place some acres in a conservation reserve program
if consist poor yield occurs in these areas. 6. Alternatively, the farmer may decide to add more organic matter to improve the soil in these areas. Organic matter is plant material or animal waste that increases the air space and water holding capacity of soils. 7. Increasing the
area between the soil particles allows for more air circulation and water
to move into the soil spaces. 8. This allows more water to move into the soil profile and more water available for plant growth. |
|
|
QUESTIONS Download and print questions here 1. Where is the mass flow sensor located in the combine? 2. The mass flow sensor measures what in the combine? 3. Where is the moisture sensor located? 4. What does the moisture sensor measure? 5. Why is grain moisture important? What is it used for? 6. What is a PCMCIA card? 7. How much many pounds (lbs) of corn (corn weighs 56 lbs) are in an 800 bushel semi truck trailer? 8. If you have a field that is 100 acres that yields 120 bushel / acre, how many pounds of grain are removed from that field? 9. Summarize how a yield monitor works. 10. What types of data are collected by the yield monitor (mass flow, moisture, and speed sensors, computer and GPS unit)? |
|
MAP SECTION 1. Go to the Map Page Make sure the Moody Corn Layer (along the right hand) is the active layer. The map should look like Figure 12 shown to the right. Using the toggle
tool |
Figure 12. What your map page should look like when you open it up. The Moody Corn layer should be the active layer. |
|
MAP QUESTIONS 1. What does this legend tell you? 2. What areas of the field are higher in corn yield? (Use the arrow on the map to determine North, South, West, East. Describe which areas, for example, SE portion of field.) 3. What looks like the highest corn yield in the field? (The legend is in bushels / acre). 4. What areas in the field are lower in corn yield? 5. What looks like the lowest corn yield in the field? 6. Display the legend for soybeans. What does the legend tell you? 7. What areas of the field are higher in soybean yield? 8. What looks like the highest soybean yield in the field? 9. What areas in the field are lower in soybean yield? 10. What looks like the lowest soybean yield in the field? 11. Without knowing anything about the field, what factors do you think could cause the yield to vary in this field. 12. Does the corn yield map variation look similar to the soybean yield map variation? Explain. 13. What other map information would you need to know that may help you explain the yield variability in this field? 14. Turn on the layer that shows the elevation map of the field. The elevation map is in feet. Does this help tell you anything about the yield variability? 15. If you were farming, how would you use this yield data? |
|
EMAIL QUESTIONS (Message board not available) As a group, come up with 3 questions for a farmer about yield monitors or yield monitor data. Post these on the message board. Check the website in 2 days. Then you will each write a short report over the information below. How a yield monitor works and the information it collects. How a farmer uses yield monitor data. Come up with 1 question that you still have about yield monitors or yield monitor data. |
on
the left hand side of the screen, display the legend for corn.
