Applying Precision Agriculture to Harvestingpami.ca/wp...Precision-Agriculture-to-Harvesting.pdf ·...

Preview:

Citation preview

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

Applying Precision Agriculture to

Harvesting

Presented by:

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

Facts:

• SK = 33 million acres of grain harvested per year

• SK Production is about 1 billion plus bushels / year

Estimations:

• 2,500 acres / combine = 13,200 combines in SK!

• About 76,000 Bushels / combine

• Just 1 bu/acre less loss = 33 million bushels

• At an average of $7 / bushel = $231 million

Background

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

Western Canada harvesting challenges • Short Harvest Season

• Shortage of Experienced Manpower

• Wide Variety of Crops

• Canola – small, light seeds, high MOG to grain ratio

• Tough threshing crops like wheat and flax

• Easy threshing crops like dry canola, peas, and lentils

• Wide variety of conditions

• High variability in some areas

• Long, green straw

• Lodging

• Short crops that pod low

• Weather

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

What does harvesting have to do with Precision Agriculture?

Source: Claas.com

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

What does harvesting have to do with Precision Agriculture?

• Seminar Advertisement: “Precision Ag is continually advancing technologies and tools to help the producer get more bushels from the same land unit with the same or less inputs.”

Source: travelpod.com

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

Are we practicing Precision Ag during harvesting?

• Wikipedia Definition: “Precision agriculture (PA) or satellite farming or site specific crop management (SSCM) is a farming management concept based on observing, measuring and responding to inter and intra-field variability in crops.”

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

Harvesting: Are we observing variability? • Operator sees crop height and density changes

• Combine sees variability too late (loss sensors)

• Some combines sense crop load at the feeder or rotor / cylinder

• The combine can’t see the variability ahead…yet

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

Harvesting: Are we measuring variability? • Yield and moisture meters

• Improvements needed:

• Calibration of yield and moisture meters

• Grain loss sensing

• In the future:

• “Look ahead” crop density and height sensors

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

Harvesting: Are we responding to variability?

• Manual operation not precise enough

• Some combines have automation of feed rate and some settings

• Improvements Needed:

• Loss sensing

• Returns composition analyzing

• Straw and chaff MOG rate sensing

• Grain sample analyzing (imaging tech)

• In the future:

• Autonomous combine

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

Why is loss important to Precision Ag? • Yield maps input into variable rate prescriptions

• Trend to base inputs on nutrients consumed the previous year (yield)

• Good chance the yield reported is incorrect due to loss and or non-calibrated yield monitors

Source: Wikipedia

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

Sources of loss • Nature – shatter (ripening, wind, rain, hail, wildlife,

heat)

• Cutting – windrowing or straight cutting

• Combine Leakage – feeder, separator, grain tank, elevators, shoe seals

• Combine Processing

• Feeding

• Threshing

• Separating

• Cleaning

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

How bad can losses be? • Current losses typically 1-5 Bu/acre

• Can be 5-15 Bu/acre!

• Loss increases as MOG feedrate increases

About 10 Bu/acre!

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

What’s Happening? • More power! Since 1990 combine HP has more than

doubled

• Significant material handling improvements

• Maximum throughput is greater than capacity of the processing and cleaning systems in some conditions.

• Modern spreaders and choppers hide the loss

• Improper settings or non optimum configuration for W Canada crops and conditions

Source: strawchopper.com

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

What’s Happening? • Assumption that the latest combine has X% more

capacity than the previous model in all conditions.

• Assumption that if the combine can send it through the grain will end up in the tank

• Similar ground speeds with wider headers

• Yields have increased

• Non-informative loss monitors

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

What’s the cost of loss? • Canola at $10/bu

• 160 acres

• 40 ft header

• @ 3 mph (14.5 ac/hr) loss = 1 bu/acre over 11.0 hrs

• @ 4 mph (19.4 ac/hr) loss = 3 bu/acre over 8.2 hrs

• Reduced harvest time by 2.8hr @ $300/hr = +$840

• @ 3 mph cost of loss = $1,600 or $145/hr

• @ 4mph cost of loss = $4,800 or $585/hr

• Loss Increased by $440/hr by going 1 mph faster

• Cost $2,360 to go 1 mph faster for 160 acres

• Plus the cost of dealing with the volunteer plants

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

Online loss and cost calculator! http://farmpro.ca/ref/CombineLoss

By Weight By Seed Count Cost Calculator

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

Loss Curves Explained

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

Can we be more precise with settings?

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

Can we be more precise with settings?

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

Can we be more precise with settings?

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

How do we apply more precision to the harvest operation?

• Next 5 years:

• Awareness and Education

• Operator feedback of what’s happening inside the combine

• Calibrate yield monitors!

• Check Losses!

• Invest time in optimizing the combine

• Utilize automated features

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

Le

ft

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

*

Rig

ht

Ex

ten

sio

n Rea

r Mid Fro

nt

Pre

-Cle

an

er

#2

Pre

-Cle

an

er

#1

0.00.51.01.52.02.53.03.54.04.55.05.56.06.57.07.58.08.59.09.510.010.511.011.512.012.513.013.514.0

Air

Ve

loc

ity

- m

/s

Upper Sieve Air Velocities - Shields Removed1100 rpm Fan - 18 mm Upper Sieve - 8 mm Lower Sieve

0.0-0.5 0.5-1.0 1.0-1.5 1.5-2.0 2.0-2.5 2.5-3.0 3.0-3.5

3.5-4.0 4.0-4.5 4.5-5.0 5.0-5.5 5.5-6.0 6.0-6.5 6.5-7.0

7.0-7.5 7.5-8.0 8.0-8.5 8.5-9.0 9.0-9.5 9.5-10.0 10.0-10.5

10.5-11.0 11.0-11.5 11.5-12.0 12.0-12.5 12.5-13.0 13.0-13.5 13.5-14.0

Air Velocity Legend - Meters per Second

How do we apply more precision to the harvest operation?

• 5-15 years:

• Advancement of sensors

• Air velocity sensors under the sieves

• More accurate and meaningful loss sensing

• Sensors under the rotor and sieves to indicate how far back the seeds are getting

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

How do we apply more precision to the harvest operation?

• 5-15 years:

• Further advancement of automated features:

• Sensors to look ahead at crop density

• Indication of amount of clean grain in returns

• Normalize settings and indications across combines

• Fully automated settings

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

How do we apply more precision to the harvest operation?

• 15-25 years:

• Autonomous combines

• Optimal settings

• Optimal feed rate

• Optimal route planning

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

How do we apply more precision to the harvest operation?

• 15-25 years:

• Real time decision management system

• Targets entered by farm manager

• Telematics that reports yield, loss, and productivity

• Suggested actions to autonomous combine based on many factors • Weather

• Machinery operating cost

• Crop price

• Fuel cost

• Acres remaining

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

Innovative Solutions for Agriculture and Beyond

Applying Precision

Agriculture to Harvesting

Questions?

Recommended