The use of electronics in agricultural equipment is nothing new, with the first machines to adopt such technology being made commercially available over three decades ago. But while this heralded the first wave of “precision farming” equipment, providing the ability to monitor, measure and manage, the development of the second phase, driven by the recent advent of GPS satellite system technology, is much more profound.

Since their inception, the focus on achieving greater efficiency from farm machines has been on increasing size to boost capacity. While engines have become more frugal in terms of fuel used per hectare, this has generally meant more powerful but bigger and heavier machines have been the development route to creating more efficient farm equipment, by enabling fewer, wider passes across the field.

Size still rules. Tractors of 600 horsepower are not uncommon in crop production – 50 years ago 60 horsepower machines would have been considered large. The possibilities offered by modern electronic and GPS technology are increasingly driving a rethink among manufacturers about how to best make their machines more efficient: smaller, lighter and more power-efficient.

Self-driving Farm Equipment

GPS is taking on a new role in farming to provide direction for automatic steering. This is accomplished by having the operator drive an initial pass. The co-ordinates are stored in the tractor’s computer, which is then used to operate the machine’s steering cylinders so as to make every subsequent pass parallel to the first. What results is that each turn of the wheel is automated, as the tractor or harvester traverses the field rows completely out of the driver’s hands.

Modern “corrected” GPS systems can produce parallel passes with a deviation of just +/- 2.5cm. When sowing seed or applying fertiliser, for example, a reduction in overlaps or misses to that level is far more accurate than a human operator could repeatedly manage. This precision can then save a great deal of waste from overlapped seed and fuel or missed areas.

Lean Farm Production

The use of GPS in farming is not just about accuracy and reducing waste. Greater speed results in expanded output. Because a machine electronically guided by satellites is quicker to respond to necessary steering movements than a human, it can be operated at a faster forward speed without risk to the crop – when cultivating to remove weeds between vegetable crop rows, for example.

In that same application, companies such as cultivator makers Garford and Micron are using camera technology to add to the benefits of GPS. What this means is that not only can weeds be eliminated from between rows, but cameras can identify weeds from the crops – by shape or by colour – and remove them as they pass with a tine movement or a spray nozzle. The speed and accuracy with which such technology operates removes the need for larger, heavier, less accurate machines.

Agricultural machinery has even begun to benefit from the Formula One technology of telemetry, using remote transmission of machine operating data to the farm computer for monitoring and measuring. Companies such as combine harvester specialist Claas are using telemetry to help farmers determine the most efficient way to cut a field and the best places to unload on-the-move to minimise downtime and wasted fuel.

The size of modern farm machinery may still look daunting, but gradually this new technology is leading to developments which are lighter, faster and more compact. The manufacturing process to create this equipment has certainly become much more sophisticated – and high tech – the contribution that today’s technology is making to tomorrow’s tractors and other farm equipment.

References:

GPS technology for tractors:
http://www.caseih.com/emea/en-gb/products/afs%C2%AE-advanced-farming-systems/guidance-steering

Camera-guided hoes and sprayers:
www.microngroup.com
www.garford.com

Telemetry:
http://www.claas.co.uk/products/easy/telemetrie-2015

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