Mapping/Precision farming software

[Haggis]

I am currently using Gatekeeper for crop recording and mapping/precision farming.

There seems to be a reasonable choice for the crop recording alternatives, however options for the mapping and precision farming side of things seem more limited.

What are other people using to do mapping and precision farming that will deal with boundaries, A-B lines, variable rate plans as well as being able to spit out a good old map?

 

[PSQ]

Currently dabbling with Xarvio from BASF, which looks easy enough to use.
The current pricing at £200 per farm for the basic NDVI with seed rate and N plan task creation seems well priced, as long as they're not intending to jack it up to stupid levels having suckered everyone in (Trimble RTX subscription, I'm looking art you).

Previously (10 years ago) I used SOYL for NDVI's, then moved on to Courtyard Partnership, and then when they were swallowed up by Origin / Agrii moved again to Xarvio, who have hit the ground running with an easy to use functional offering. The beauty of cloud computing packages is they are constantly updated remotely and the data is held somewhere other than the farms computer. I wouldn't consider buying a conventional software package for precision farming, it's an outdated and expensive model.

 

[anyela]

Currently dabbling with Xarvio from BASF, which looks easy enough to use.
The current pricing at £200 per farm for the basic NDVI with seed rate and N plan task creation seems well priced, as long as they're not intending to jack it up to stupid levels having suckered everyone in (Trimble RTX subscription, I'm looking art you).

Previously (10 years ago) I used SOYL for NDVI's, then moved on to Courtyard Partnership, and then when they were swallowed up by Origin / Agrii moved again to Xarvio, who have hit the ground running with an easy to use functional offering. The beauty of cloud computing packages is they are constantly updated remotely and the data is held somewhere other than the farms computer. I wouldn't consider buying a conventional software package for precision farming, it's an outdated and expensive model.

Do you use Xarvio for crop disease monitoring? Are plant diseases a problem where you are?

 

[PSQ]

Do you use Xarvio for crop disease monitoring? Are plant diseases a problem where you are?

I'm using the 'Pro' version which includes 2 fields to demo the disease monitoring feature.
The top level 'Premium' includes it on all fields, but I already work with an independent agronomist for field walking who knows which diseases are appearing in the area.
Septoria in wheat is the major issue here.

 

[ajd132]

I'm using the 'Pro' version which includes 2 fields to demo the disease monitoring feature.
The top level 'Premium' includes it on all fields, but I already work with an independent agronomist for field walking who knows which diseases are appearing in the area.
Septoria in wheat is the major issue here.

Do you trust disease monitoring software that is made a by company selling the chemicals to control the disease?

 

[anyela]

Thanks for answering, Septoria is also a big problem here in East Anglia, I suppose you know that. I am not a farmer, I work at NIAB here in Cambridge, I'm just trying to understand why farmers tend not to use Agri-Tech solutions for plant disease monitoring.

 

[PSQ]

Thanks for answering, Septoria is also a big problem here in East Anglia, I suppose you know that. I am not a farmer, I work at NIAB here in Cambridge, I'm just trying to understand why farmers tend not to use Agri-Tech solutions for plant disease monitoring.

Agri-tech disease prediction is still in its infancy. My concern is that its a computer model using forecasts and assumptions (RI,RO), but there is little allowance for local anomalies like coastal effects or rain shading etc. At this point in time I would prefer to trust an experienced independent agronomist to evaluate disease risk while with his or her boots on the ground, rather a proprietary yet anonymous and unaccountable algorithm that exists somewhere in the ether, that only gives a single 'traffic light' coloured dot to warn of a particular disease risk in any given field. There doesn't even appear to be a key to explain the colour differences in Field Manager.

NDVI's on the other hand are a fantastic 'litmus test' of crop health variability, texture variability, moisture variability, and variations in fertility, with a satellite resolution somewhere in the region of 400 different samples per Ha (depending on the satellite, the sample area is approx 4m x 6m).

 

[anyela]

I totally agree with you, most softwares out there assume one type of symptom and one type of control for any disease which is totally wrong. My only concern is that the more chemical control is applied to the plants the more resistant pest and diseases become. You seem very Tech savy, thank you for your answer.

 

[Haggis]

Do you trust disease monitoring software that is made a by company selling the chemicals to control the disease?

I am pretty cynical about the likes of Fieldview and Xarvio being driven by Bayer and BASF.

I am also pretty conscious that all allot of new software and p/f technology doesn’t actually make us any more profit or make life any easier.

The frustrating thing is that Gatekeeper does everything I need, it’s just hellish to use and too expensive.

 

[ajd132]

I am pretty cynical about the likes of Fieldview and Xarvio being driven by Bayer and BASF.

I am also pretty conscious that all allot of new software and p/f technology doesn’t actually make us any more profit or make life any easier.

The frustrating thing is that Gatekeeper does everything I need, it’s just hellish to use and too expensive.

Yes gatekeeper is horrible to use I’ve dumped it until they make something sensible.
Agree on stuff like fieldview they sent me all the stuff for it but I cannot see the point at all. Why do I need to watch my drill or sprayer going up or down?

 

[Phil P]

I am currently using Gatekeeper for crop recording and mapping/precision farming.

There seems to be a reasonable choice for the crop recording alternatives, however options for the mapping and precision farming side of things seem more limited.

What are other people using to do mapping and precision farming that will deal with boundaries, A-B lines, variable rate plans as well as being able to spit out a good old map?

To be honest I’ve found the jd operations centre really good for creating, editing, storing fields boundaries, A-B lines etc. The latest update has simplified things even more and is more intuitive. You can also create field zones and prescription files for VR and the field Analyzer is good for yield maps.
However I don’t know what guidance system your using but I believe jd are starting to make the operations centre more compatible across other systems. For example I believe you can now import ISO-XML date from KV and other screens to backup field data etc. They’re also working with Claas on yield maps.
And the whole system and access is FREE!