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Agronomy, Controlled Traffic Systems, Drainage, Precision Agriculture, Soil, Uncategorized, Water

Australian Controlled Traffic Farming Association Conference – September 2009

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Hi-Tech – Low Emissions Cropping – Economical – Energy Efficient – Environmentally Sound

Dan and James from LandWISE attended the Australian Controlled Traffic Farming Association (ACTFA) conference in Canberra.

Australian adoption of GPS

It was estimated that 4000 RTK GPS units are in operation on vegetable and arable farms in Australia.  CTF adoption is estimated at 11% of cropping farmers and is climbing. Growing local networks of CTF farmers are apparent through the presentations and workshops and in talking to farmers we met. 

Aussie Drought

CTF as a solution to many challenges in soil, water and staying in business, has acceptance among the farmers with whom we spoke.

Farmers with experience of CTF spoke in terms of gains in Water Use Efficiency and drought tolerance of their operations.  They spoke of neighbours, unable to harvest droughted crops, asserting that they were getting less rain than CTF farmers.    

One agricultural contractor only has customers that operate CTF systems.  This is a deliberate business strategy; in dry years his customers have harvestable crops and he wants the consistent work.

Dire issues with water shortages sharpen the interest of farmers in Precision Agriculture.  The large holdings and low per hectare yields reported by Australian grain farmers means small per hectare savings are significant.  Margins are tight and grain prices under downward pressure.  Any gains offered by technology are being explored and exploited. 

Water use efficiency (in kg/mm rainfall/ha.) is a common measure of gains from Controlled Traffic Farming in Australia.  Improved infiltration and soil moisture storage are important reasons to convert to CTF.  

New Zealand relevance

Our climate change predictions indicate both increased drought and extreme rain events! Fortunately the soil infiltration and water holding benefits of CTF address both these key issues. While we typically have smaller farms, their productive value is higher.  So an equivalent percentage improvement from adoption CTF would have larger dollar gains per hectare.

CORS Networks

Australia is making a massive investment in CORS (Continuously Operating Reference Stations). These are permanent GPS signal correction systems that, for an annual subscription, provide RTK correction signals for use in mining, geology, agriculture and construction.  A statewide network in Victoria is 40% towards planned full coverage.  CORS networks offer some billions of dollars in savings over the expansion of private base station networks.  Many conference attendees thought farmers would continue to invest in their own, or local cooperative networks as well so these projections may be overly optimistic.  

Who went?

The usual suppliers of GPS equipment were evident.  There was considerable presence from Precision Agriculture farmer groups (South Australian No-Till Farming Association, Southern Precision Agriculture Association, Conservation Agriculture Association of Australia and NZ, LandWISE).  Private consultants, agronomists and Universities were also well represented.  Of some 83 delegates, 16 farmers were present.  Useful contacts were made on behalf of LandWISE. 

The experience of CTF farmers was that their CTF systems are delivering savings in fuel, fertiliser and time and improved yields and water use efficiency.  Continued extension of the use of CTF is likely, with other spatial technology bringing additional benefits to farmers who are choosing to adopt other Precision Agriculture systems on their farms.

Very brief headlines of the presentations are below.  Full information should be available soon on the ACTFA website – http://www.actfa.net

The Coming Famine: the risks to global food security – Julian Cribb (author of a book ‘The  Coming Famine’ to be published 2010)

Julian opened the conference by letting us know we are at crisis point. Many resources underpinning agriculture are running out.  Peak phosphorous has passed and the level of waste of nutrients in food production is huge.  He predicts major regional food crises leading to conflicts and mass refugee movements.  He sees food security as a national defence issue which suggests urgent diversion of defence spending into R&D for food production. see  http://www.sciencealert.com.au/features-global-food-crisis

CTF- The Proven Solution – Don Yule

Long time CTF proponent, Don showed how CTF is a solution to a host of resource management and productivity issues and that it offers gains in soil resilience to climate variability and social benefits. don@ctfsolutions.com.au

Cropping Systems for Climate Change – Jeff Tullberg

Jeff spoke on tillage and traffic options to improve rainfall use efficiency and soil surface protection, and the green house gas balance of cropping.  He says that CTF avoids the inefficiencies inherent in current systems and is a way forward to more productive and resilient cropping. jeff@ctfsolutions.com.au

Spatial Information Research – New Opportunities for Agriculture Communities – Phillip Collier

Spatial technologies support and promote improved farming practices and yield benefits.  The CRC (Cooperative Research Centre) for Spatial information is responsible for ‘spatially enabling Australia’. Agriculture, Natural Resources and Climate change are a focus of this CRC.  P.collier@unimelb.edu.au

What has CTF/Zero-Till done for my farming operation? – Robert Ruwoldt, Glenvale Farms

“Farmers resist change but there is always a better way to do things”     “Soil compaction is holding the world back from going to the next level”  Robert has achieved fewer weed problems, reduced fertiliser use and better water use efficiency since converting to CTF.  “Changing your farming system is the easiest thing to do, but some people make it the hardest” glenvalefarms@bigpond.com

The Farming Business 1992-2009 – Hugh Ball

A total of 15,000 hectares of arable cropping land is in the family business with a further 20,000 hectares under their management.  Key to this are capable core staff, external expertise and a family advisory board. CTF is on 3 meter centres, 12 m implements and 36-48 m boom sprayers. Balls are investing heavily in farming and CTF. “Money is cheap and the world is hungry” hugh@ballfm.com.au

Rural R&D Response – Peter Reading MD GRDC

Adoption by growers comes from Awareness, Tools and Motivation, if any of these elements are missing, adoption won’t happen.  Australian Precision Ag technology transfer is funded by GRDC via packages for growers and advisers in PA.  p.reading@grdc.com.au

Going Straight – A reporter’s run down the tramlines Peter Lewis ABC TV

A TV show on early CTF in 1998 captured Peter’s imagination.  He has enjoyed watching CTF evolve in Australia since then and passes on his enthusiasm for CTF as a non farmer. lewispeter@abc.net.au

A Contract Harvester Perspective on CTF – Peter Bradley

“If a farmer wants a profitable and more sustainable harvest… go for it- create your CTF system and you won’t look back”   Peter encourages his farmer clients to invest in  sustainable low emission cropping systems.  woolaroo@bigpond.com.au

Controlled Traffic Farming System – Australian CTF standard, Industry Proposal – Kevin Platz, John Deere

Initiatives to avoid problems of mismatching equipment include development of CTF standards.  Standards being agreed among farmers and key industry players include proposals for all tractors 150-500 HP to be at 3 m wheel tracks for CTF.  Manufacturing issues are still being discussed.  platzkevin@johndeere.com

Logistics and efficiency of grain harvest and transport systems Greg Butler – SANTFA

A model has been developed to assist grain farmers to reduce machine time, fuel consumption and emissions through better vehicle management. greg@santfa.com.au

Australian GNSS CORS networks – status, issues, challenges, future – Martin Hale

State CORS networks (on 70 km spacings) are at various stages of planning and installation and will offer sub 2 cm accuracy via GPS correction signals.  A national network (Auscope) is being implemented for science and commercial use.  Availability of correction signals to farmers, miners and the construction industry will be an additional benefits of the national network. martin.hale@dse.vic.gov.au

GNSS and Agriculture – Martin Nix, Navonix

This talk covered the national economic benefits of CORS networks vs local arrays of base stations. Benefits come from high accuracy, and using data multiple times and across multiple industries – mining construction, agriculture. Martin referred to ANZLIC and an Allen Consulting report, “The economic benefits of high resolution positioning.” http://www.crcsi.com.au/UPLOADS/PUBLICATIONS/PUBLICATION_348.pdf   martinjnix@gmail.com

Proximal Sensor Technologies – John Rochecouste CEO CAAANZ

Identifying the ‘production issue’ is still a precursor to the deployment of technology.  Farmers have the question, “How does the information relate to what I am doing?  What do we need to research and how do we manage data?  rochecouste@iinet.net.au

(We are interested to meet NZ members of the Conservation Agriculture Association of Australia and New Zealand.)

Remote Sensor Technologies – Eileen Perry DPI VIC

GPS is the enabling technology that allows farmers to fully utilise sensor data.   Selecting the most suitable sensor and mounting it on the most sensible platform (tractor, plane or satellite) is critical.   Using sensor data in combination with other information (e.g. yield, soil or crop data) is key to gaining the most benefit from sensor technology.  eileen.perry@dpi.vic.gov.au

Paul Slatter – John Deere Precision Ag specialist

Paul sees yield mapping as a key step in the Precision Agriculture data cycle.  When combined with input records of factors which influence yield, these show the rewards farmers are getting for their management decisions – varieties, dates, fertiliser etc. slatterpaul@johndeere.com

Gathering Data for Variable Rate Technology is the easiest bit, doing something with it is the challenge.  Ed Cay – gps-Ag

Australian farmers are using nutrient removal maps, water use efficiency, multilayer yield trends and gross margin maps to design and justify variable rate input spending.  Ed sees that the future for variable rate technology will bring easier to use hardware and software, more use of remote data transfer, service industry growth and more industry group support.  ed.cay@gps-ag.com.au

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13th Australasian Precision Agriculture Symposium Armidale NSW, September 2009

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The PA symposium is recognised as the meeting point for Australasian Precision Agriculture researchers.  This year it was at the University of New England in Armidale (1000m ASL), With frost on the ground, the mornings were as chilly as home in Hawke’s Bay. 

There was a strong New Zealand presence (10) with Dan and James from LandWISE.  Ian Yule from Massey Centre for Precision Ag chaired a session.  Carolyn Hedley from Landcare Research and Ina Draganova from Massey University gave presentations.  Two others from Massey also attended.  John-Paul Praat and Canterbury farmers Craige and Jemma McKenzie, were also at the Symposium.

The Symposium had a strong research input, but also included presentations from leading farmers.  Attendance was strong with about 150 delegates. The small number of active farmers present was noted.  Speakers were recognizing need to take PA from research to practice as a mainstream activity. 

There was strong industry support for the conference.  Most technology providers had technical staff present.  James and Dan had useful time with these people building knowledge and networks and sharing information.

The Precision Agriculture Association (Southern has been removed from the title, but it is still known as SPAA) is a key member of the PA community in Australia.  They had a major presence at the Symposium.  We were interested to note that SPAA has 200 members, compared to LandWISE with 130+.  The farmers were enthusiastic and when we explained what LandWISE is, all were keen to share information and to cooperate where practical.

SPAA run training workshops and field days on precision agriculture and assist farmers to accurately setup yield monitoring, crop sensing and variable rate treatment of crops.  SPAA have shifted their focus from individual farmers to farmer groups.  In each of these they train a local Precision Ag leader to aid in regional support for extension of PA techniques.  They are well-funded by GRDC for this extension work. We made contact with past and present leaders and current administration staff.   There is an excellent SPAA website at www.spaa.com.au.

Some highlights

On Nitrogen

Yield mapping with active sensors and managing nitrogen by variable rate application are clearly being researched and adopted in Australia.   The confidence in the active sensors and the ability among farmers to use them to support their agronomy and drive variable rate practices is growing fast. 

Jim Schepers from Nebraska spoke on managing N using sensors in corn.  He describes it as being like driving an old car, you have a choke and a throttle.  Chlorophyll is the driver to production.  But he reminded us that yellowness has more causes than just N, look further before applying more N to correct it, look at soil and crop factors and their interactions.  He advocates the use of N rich strips as a visual tool but also to calibrate N sensors (of which the eye is an important one).  He spoke about sufficiency indexes to determine N applications.

He reminded us to be aware that while N is a critical tool, N excesses are difficult to detect.  N rich levels may not be good to aim for, it may be difficult to sustain the growth of the richest areas as other factors become limiting.  Too much N can limit growth and then go to waste.  Uncertainty about N is a risk to the crop and your business.  Understand it.

Remote Sensing

One speaker Leasie Felderhof, described her company’s work with unmanned aerial vehicles or drones which can now cheaply capture imaging in different bands for zonal management of crops, weed detection and other mapping.  The drone is autopiloted using GPS and follows a preprogrammed flight path to capture the required imagery.  Net landings allow for confined space operation.  It is early days but these tools are rapidly becoming viable for use in agriculture.   www.skyviewsolutions.com.au

The UNE precision Ag team has experimentally installed a crop sensor on a Fletcher Topdressing aeroplane to good effect.   It requires the plane to fly at less than 6 metres while scouting a crop, which apparently isn’t a problem.   Ag pilots in Australia are a similar breed to ours – the sensor had to be mounted behind the nose wheel to prevent it being knocked off. 

The Weedseeker is selling like hotcakes in Australia.  It is an active sensor which, when fitted across a spray boom with individual nozzle control, allows farmers to spray only as a nozzle crosses an area where weeds occur.  Some of the reported benefits of Weedseeker were incredible with system payback of less than one season for some operators, where their weed populations allow for big chemical savings. 

Trimble has purchased the company which manufactures and distributes Greenseeker and Weedseeker sensors.  The Greenseeker sensors are finding application in agronomy especially around nitrogen applications.  Australian farmers are quickly adopting technologies to allow for savings in inputs. 

Roger Mandel – Curtin University, WA

Roger was a presenter at the PA symposium and was also at the CTF Conference in Canberra.  A lecturer at Curtin University in WA, Roger focused on ‘Demystifying Precision Agriculture’.   He generously gave us his full 100 slide powerpoint to use as we see fit.  It is a useful resource and will help us develop suitable resources for LandWISE members. Roger also gave us an Excel based calculator designed to assess the economic case for adopting Precision agriculture and variable rate technologies. We think this needs to be reviewed in a New Zealand context, but it is a very useful template.

Government support for Precision agriculture research in Australia reflects recognition for it as a key response to climate change.  This was shown by the level of funding , research, extension and resultant participation.
The proceedings are available here.
http://www.usyd.edu.au/agric/acpa/symposiums/2009_proceedings.pdf (4.8MB)

A list of presentations is below:

13th Annual Symposium on Precision Agriculture in Australasia – Presentations and Workshops

Managing nitrogen with active sensors
Jim Schepers (USDA – Agricultural Research Service)

Canopy-scale detection of nitrogen in wheat using the Canopy Chlorophyll Content Index
Glenn Fitzgerald (Department of Primary Industries Victoria)

Optimising nitrogen use in cereal crops using site-specific management classes and crop reflectance sensors
James Austin (Australian Centre for Precision Agriculture, University of Sydney)

Evaluating a new proximal sensor for winegrape quality
Rob Bramley (CSIRO Sustainable Ecosystems and Food Futures Flagship)

A producer perspective on the application of precision technologies
Kym I’Anson (South Australian grain and hay producer)

RTK CORS networks – the future of agricultural machine guidance
Tim Neale (FARMpos Pty Ltd)

Linking unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) technology with precision agriculture
Leasie Felderhof (SkyView Solutions Pty Ltd)

Measuring and mapping crop vigour using an active optical sensor in an ultra low-level aircraft
David Lamb (CRC for Spatial Information and Precision Agriculture Research Group UNE)

Precision nutrient management in China supported by remote sensing and information technology
Ke Wang (Institute of Agricultural Remote Sensing & Information Technology, Zhejiang University)

On-farm carbon and biodiversity: mechanisms and PA tools for the future
Paul Frazier (Eco Logical Australia)

Autonomous tracking and control of livestock in extensive grazing systems
David Swain (CSIRO Livestock Industries)

Water use efficiency indicators for variable rate irrigation of variable soils
Carolyn Hedley (Landcare Research, Massey University)

Ord Irrigation Area – a diversity of precision agriculture applications
Jon Medway (Terrabyte Services)

Producer perspectives of precision agriculture
Richard Heath (Grains Producer and GRDC Northern Panel member)

A survey of Western Australian farmers on the uptake of precision agriculture:problems, issues and a way forward
Roger Mandel (Curtin University of Technology)

Examining the temporal availability of feed and regional turn-off patterns of cattle in Eastern Australia
Graham Donald (CSIRO Livestock Industries)

Integration of operational constraints into management zone delineation methods
Pierre Roudier (Australian Centre for Precision Agriculture, University of Sydney)

SPAA Producer Groups update
Mark Branson (Southern Precision Agriculture Association)

GPS Livestock Tracking Workshop

GPS livestock tracking
Mark Trotter (CRC for Spatial Information and Precision Agriculture Research Group UNE)

Pasture utilisation and nutrient redistribution in intensively managed dairy system
Ina Draganova (Institute of Natural Resources, Massey University, New Zealand)

Adaptation behaviour of cattle relocated from the rangelands to a temperate agricultural grazing system
Dean Thomas (CSIRO Livestock Industries)

Sirion, the new generation in global satellite communications: livestock GPS tracking & traceback
Gill Stassen (PacRim Satellite Communications)

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Get Free Email Updates

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Now our website offers “Feeds” you can get automatic updates when we post new items or newsletters on the website. A wee search engine checks our site each day for new material and emails you if it finds any.

Increasingly, this will be the main way we communicate with you, so please get registered as soon as you can. This will effectively replace our newsletter and email notices. We put the news on the LandWISE website and you automatically get it delivered.


Register for free LandWISE email updates

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What are RSS Feeds?

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You’ll see that our website offers “Feeds”. A wee search engine checks our site each day for new material and lets you know if it finds any.
The steps below show you how to have LandWISE Feeds set as a favourite on your web browser.


Subscribe via RSS

RSS feeds set a favourites link in your web browser. The RSS feed collects our updates for you. When you look at your feeds, it contains items put on our website. You get the information, but you have to remember to look regularly yourself.

How do you subscribe to RSS feeds?

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It tells you the website offers feeds. On the LandWISE site, you’ll find it just below the Subscribe for Free LandWISE Updates option

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4. Click Subscribe and a Feed called LandWISE will be added to your favorites

5. Check your favorite feed regularly for LandWISE updates or to quickly search our postings. You can search here by categories too.


Agronomy, Controlled Traffic Systems, Drainage, Irrigation, Precision Agriculture, Uncategorized

GPS: for simpler operations, savings, and sustainability

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As published in Grower, July 2009.

NZ Fresh Cuts is creating new ground in vegetable growing, using RTK GPS guided cultivation.  GPS is used to guide tractors for controlled traffic farming in maize and to form permanent beds in leaf vegetables and carrots.  The goal is to save input costs and to improve sustainability in cropping operations.  This is done by using Trimble GPS to guide tractors down the same wheel tracks, pass to pass, year to year. Repeatable 2 cm accuracy is possible and early trials of permanent beds, show savings in inputs, management and improved yield. 

“Indications are that GPS will pay [for itself] in 3 years on fuel savings alone, and we also expect major savings in labour, land allocation, steel, fertiliser and machine R&M”. Chris Butler- NZ Fresh Cuts.

Sustainability is a company-wide focus at NZ Fresh Cuts, who aim to operate a future focused business that is environmentally responsible and looks after people and profits.
Water use efficiency is also likely to increase with improved infiltration through the beds.  Chris has observed that heavy rain is now resulting in less runoff and that runoff water is tending to be clean, indicating that improved infiltration is already occurring.  Combined with planned electromagnetic sensing (EM38) and mapping, this may lead to optimization of irrigation programs.
“Our soil is our big asset, so seeing that it is staying in place is a big plus from controlling our tractor traffic with GPS”. Chris Butler

Controlled traffic also offers potential for less soil damage in wet weather harvesting, because the permanent tramlines are better able to support traffic.

Farming operations were set up 3 years ago with the intention of moving to full controlled traffic. The operations are still evolving towards a final methodology.  Equipment changes were required and a 225hp tractor with RTK auto steer, 6 meter discs, triple bed hoe and triple bed Lister bar were purchased.  Another tractor has GPS fitted for bed forming.

A major advantage is the increased opportunity to get ground preparation done in narrow windows while minimising the damage to the soil.  Because there are fewer operations in the CTF system there is less total waiting time after wet weather.  GPS also allows for the tractor to turn out of one row and into another three or four rows away which cuts down on turning time.  This is possible because the GPS guides the tractor accurately and so adjacent rows are not required to guide the setting up of beds.  Now that three rows are being cultivated per pass, time savings are even greater.  Loss of downtime may allow more crops per year to be grown.
The market for leaf vegetables, has wide variation in daily demand.  Contracts require 300 harvest days per year to meet agreements.  Quality standards are high and the rotations are short, with up to 8 crops grown per season.  Gains in landuse efficiency and turnaround are an attractive aspect of GPS use.

Dan Bloomer manages LandWISE and has worked with Chris over the past 8 years while controlled traffic farming was pioneered at Opou Station in Gisborne. 
“The early gains from controlled traffic are in the soil recovering from the beatings of conventional cropping.  This can quickly provide for cheaper cultivation, more worms and healthier soils.  It is a no-brainer to care for soil by driving on it less”- Dan Bloomer, LandWISE

Mechanical weeding is already being used to reduce reliance on herbicides.  Chris can see the benefit of auto steer on implements and later will explore what the increased accuracy of GPS guidance will offer for mechanical weeding.   Pest and disease pressure will need to be monitored, as the effect of permanent beds is unknown.  Disease pressure will be a point of study to ensure best possible outcomes.

Controlled traffic trials are being run at both Rangiriri and Mangere sites to compare conventional practice with CTF and cost, yield and soil properties will be monitored.  Short rotations of the crops here, give an opportunity to measure any effects of changes quickly.  LandWISE is hosting field days, at this and 11 other Advanced Farming sites around New Zealand. 

NZ Fresh Cuts are a key sponsor of the LandWISE Advanced Farming Systems project.  LandWISE will monitor trials and report on progress at these farms.

LandWISE is a forum for sharing information on new technology for smarter farming and on farm research.  For more on LandWISE field days, events and membership, go to www.landwise.org.nz
                     

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New LandWISE website launched

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The LandWISE website has been rebuilt and now allows users to post comments and other responses to articles. We encourage you to use this to discuss the ideas we are developing. You need to sign up and get approved in the first place, but once you are verified, you can continue posting comments without them needing approval.

Controlled Traffic Systems, Precision Agriculture, Projects, Uncategorized

Farmers Profit from GPS Technology

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LandWISE project creates cost savings for farmers

From, The Farmlands Shareholder, September 2009.
 
When fuel prices went through the roof last year, LandWISE was already working with farmers using technology to reduce fuel costs on their farms. 

These tools are used by LandWISE farmers to implement Advanced Farming Systems to improve their farm returns.
 
LandWISE Manager Dan Bloomer and Project Co-ordinator James Powrie are working with farmers from around New Zealand.  Twelve farmers, spread through Hawke’s Bay, Waikato, Manawatu, Pukekohe, Gisborne and Canterbury, have stepped up as case study farms in the Sustainable Farming Fund Advanced Farming Systems project. 

The farmers have all invested in high quality GPS and auto-steer systems.  Their common theme is increasing profitability and improving soil and farm resilience in the face of climate change.
 
Farmlands is a key sponsor of the LandWISE Advanced Farming Systems project. The project aims to promote the successful use of technologies such as GPS, to slash fuel consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, cut other inputs and enhance soil quality on farms.
 
Hugh Ritchie, a board member of LandWISE Incorporated and one of the case study farmers says, “LandWISE researches important farm projects that might otherwise not be tackled.  We are a small organization with a strong track record for producing new, practical solutions for arable and crop farmers.”

LandWISE provides an umbrella under which farmers, growers, industry and research organisations can gather. They discuss, develop and implement feasibility trials using these technologies. 

Advanced farming systems have resulted in increased production and substantial fuel, labour and equipment savings for Gisborne maize grower and LandWISE board member, David Clark.
 
After many years of conventional cropping, experiencing soil compaction, poor soil structure and reduced earthworm presence on his farm, David has developed the use of GPS to control traffic. 
 
‘Controlled Traffic’ means the same wheel tracks or ‘tramlines’ are used for all tractor operations. This results not only in increased production and time saving, but also in substantial financial savings for the business.
 
Each year, high accuracy Real-Time Kinematic (RTK) GPS positioning technology and self-steering keeps operations on exactly the same tracks.   This results in restricted soil compaction, improved soil quality, better yields and increased earthworm activity.
 
Today, David runs two tractors instead of four, has halved his fuel costs and reduced labour costs too.  Localised soil compaction in the permanent tramlines is now an asset that supports equipment, with the “garden” growing between them free from the damage from tractor tyres.
 
GPS and auto-steering is key to improved accuracy and makes the job less demanding, resulting in reduced fatigue and increased productivity.  GPS is an investment that is changing the way people farm, with immediate and long term benefits.

To find out more about LandWISE and Advanced Farming Systems go to www.landwise.org.nz

Controlled Traffic Systems, Precision Agriculture, Uncategorized

First Steps to Space Age Technology in your Tractor

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As published in Grower, August 2009.

We often hear about how the aerospace industry has given us so much, and how many human activities are gaining the benefit of new technologies.   GPS or satellite navigation, is an everyday tool in many industries and recreational pursuits and farmers are becoming big users too. 
Let’s turn the clock back for a moment.
In July forty years ago, we heard the news that Armstrong and Aldrin had set down on the face of the moon and mankind had taken its first step, on soil in space.  Historic limitations were swept aside by a decision.  JFK said it, and NASA did it, and after a huge team effort (400,000 people contributed to the project) NASA astronaut  Jim Lovell was able to say… “From now on we’ll live in a world where man has walked on the Moon. It’s not a miracle, we just decided to go.”
Apollo 11’s on-board computer, had 36Kb of memory – that’s probably less than most emails you send today.  Navigation and fuel capacity were determined after long-winded calculations, on slide rules and with pencil and paper.  Trusting souls, those astronauts.  
Today a cropping tractor equipped with GPS has thousands of times more computing power than all of NASA had back in the sixties.
In New Zealand the adoption of GPS for cropping has been accelerating.  With the current economic conditions and the need for farmers to improve their efficiency, there is growing interest in how GPS and related technology is helping them to be more efficient.  
“It is getting simpler and cheaper to put user friendly, space age technology in your tractor and make your cropping work easier, quicker – and more interesting”.  says Dan Bloomer at LandWISE.
GPS helps farmers to cut costs, to reduce the number of operations in their system and to make more money.  In fact, GPS providers here and in the US, report that the demand for precision agriculture equipment is growing while their other sectors contract in the current “r”.  
The LandWISE Advanced Farming Systems project is promoting the use of such technology in vegetable growing and cropping.  It is sponsored by the MAF Sustainable Farming Fund, Regional Councils, growers and other suppliers.
“It gets easier and easier to use GPS and we keep finding new ways to apply it in our system, whether to plant, weed, harvest or gather site data to manage nutrients, soil and irrigation. It is an indispensable tool for what we do ”. says Scott Lawson of True Earth Organics.
GPS is simple to use.  When James Powrie started at LandWISE last November, Hugh Ritchie gave him 15 minutes of training on his Trimble RTK GPS, before leaving  James, to finish subsoiling a squash paddock. 
“It was easy and fun and the driving was bullet straight, within a cm or two of the line.   I can’t say the work was all mine though”. 
The tractor was steering itself, with help of an autosteer system controlled by GPS via computer and the tractor’s own hydraulic system.

The LandWISE website, at www.landwise.org.nz is full of information, articles and events for anyone interested in technology in cropping.  The LandWISE conference, in May each year, is a great place to come before you take a small step of your own, or to learn more about Advanced Farming Systems and Precision Agriculture. 
We may also be able to put you in touch with farmers in your neighbourhood  who are using Advanced Farming Systems and GPS, if you would like to see the technology at work.  Email or call LandWISE for information.
LandWISE is a forum for sharing information on new technology for smarter farming and on farm research.  For more on LandWISE field days, discussion groups, events and membership, go to www.landwise.org.nz or phone James Powrie 06 6504531.