Yield monitoring in precision agriculture helps farmers get adequate information for making informed decisions about their fields.
Yield-mapping systems are a relatively recent development, allowing agricultural equipment such as combine harvesters to collect a huge amount of information, including yield, moisture level, soil properties and much more. Because yield-monitoring systems give farmers such a wide range of useful information, it’s much easier for them to assess harvest timing, variable-rate feeding and sowing, weather effects, and much more. Yield-monitoring systems work in three stages: grain is harvested and fed into the elevator; on the way to the storage tank, sensors measure the moisture and volume of the harvested grain. All the information obtained is displayed on the field-computer screen mounted in the combine’s cab. The information is geotagged, so it can be compared, and also carefully studied once field work is finished.
Farmers benefit from using yield-monitoring technology for many reasons; one of its main advantages is that it helps get accurate, geotagged field data. By studying their fields in more detail, a farmer can better understand the reasons behind varying yield in different parts of the field, prevent potential threats, or seize opportunities. In addition, they get the ability to monitor the field-harvesting process in real time, transmitting information to a personal computer or mobile device. Now information is available in many different formats, including on equipment displays, at home, or in printed form. You can also use specialized computer software to evaluate and better understand the information collected.
Fundamental components of a yield-monitoring system
Yield-monitoring systems differ from one another, but there are a number of components that are always present in the process. These sensors are key components of yield monitoring, providing additional precise data.
Grain-flow sensor
This sensor transmits information about the volume of threshed grain to the field computer. It works using a strain gauge attached to the top of the grain elevator. As harvested grain is fed through the combine, it eventually hits the strain gauge, which transmits an electrical signal to the field computer. The latter, in turn, uses this reading to determine how much grain is being taken into the combine at any given moment. This detection method is very common, though other approaches and their variants are also used.
Moisture sensor
Information about the moisture content of harvested grain is extremely valuable in the context of harvesting, storing and drying crops. Knowing moisture readings, farmers can more accurately calculate the market value of their harvest. The moisture sensor works as grain moves between two conductive surfaces, which measure how much electrical charge the grain can hold (this is called capacitance). Measuring moisture is one of the most important stages of yield monitoring.
GPS receiver
A GPS receiver, or global positioning system receiver, is a remote sensor that measures various data, including equipment location, speed, elevation and much more. The GPS receiver is a core component of geotagging, since it lets you record the combine’s position, then sends this data to the onboard computer, and after that links it with all the other information. The GPS receiver helps turn the data obtained from the sensors into maps that the farmer uses.
Display
Sometimes also called a field computer or monitor. This component is located in the combine’s cab. It serves various purposes, though its main function is to display information collected by the various sensors, reporting moisture, yield, field-navigation data and much more to the operator in real time.
Monitors can also store information about completed field operations and transmit it to a mobile device or personal computer. This makes data analysis much more convenient, opening up possibilities for using more software to interpret and visualize the information collected by the yield-monitoring system.
Is it worth investing in yield monitoring
When investing in a yield-monitoring system, a number of factors need to be considered. Entry-level equipment usually costs around $2,000 and up (if more advanced technology is used). However, the valuable information it delivers is worth it. Yield-monitoring systems not only protect against harvest theft during harvesting and transport to storage, but also serve as an excellent source of baseline data for agrochemical field surveys.
Yevgen Kondratyev,
Head of precision-agriculture
systems sales, +38 (050) 450-47-82
e.kondratyev@astra-group.com.ua
