Optimise Barley harvest

[Croptastic Ltd]

Hi, I am Ben the Director of Croptastic Ltd. I run a start up based in Leicester that is looking to optimise the harvest window time of Barley using a Machine learning model. I'm trying to contact barley farmers to take part in a pilot scheme. I was wondering if you could assist.
Kind regards, Ben

 

[bankrupt]

I run a start up based in Leicester that is looking to optimise the harvest window time of Barley using a Machine learning model.

Starting up here on 10th July.

What can we do to assist you?

 

[Croptastic Ltd]

I am looking for Barley farmers to take part in a pilot scheme. The aim is to consider variables that determine harvest times and input them into a machine learning model. The hope is to optimise the harvest window time.

 

[bankrupt]

I am looking for Barley farmers to take part in a pilot scheme. The aim is to consider variables that determine harvest times and input them into a machine learning model. The hope is to optimise the harvest window time.

Thank you.

We manipulate our harvest window here in order to mitigate the potential downside of our machinery policy.

Starting up on 10th July every year will always allow for a reasonable amount of downtime, which may or may not occur (none in 2018, luckily, but quite a lot in 2019).

The average age of our combines is now 23yrs, our grain trailers 27, the grain driers 31 and the grain stores 42.

Therefore, we always reckon to plant early varieties early into early fields in order to get an early start to the harvest.

I'll try to post a pic up here for you, 10th July next.

 

[Croptastic Ltd]

Thanks. Can I presume you are a Barley farmer? I was wondering whether you will like to part in our scheme. If yes, feel free to e mail me at [email protected]

 

[bankrupt]

feel free to e mail me at [email protected]

I did but your email address doesn't work.

 

[Croptastic Ltd]

Are your intials BM? I received a test e mail.

 

[Shutesy]

Hi, I am Ben the Director of Croptastic Ltd. I run a start up based in Leicester that is looking to optimise the harvest window time of Barley using a Machine learning model. I'm trying to contact barley farmers to take part in a pilot scheme. I was wondering if you could assist.
Kind regards, Ben

Are you not trying to over complicate something fairly simple that most farmers can manage already? Taking a few moisture samples in the morning to gauge whether the crop is fit to cut is fairly easy. We tend to sample around 10am (rarely start before then) and then judge how long it will be, given the weather conditions on the day, till it is dry enough to start, which tends to pretty much be midday on a normal day. The weather is always the biggest factor regarding harvest start date, and when you start cutting on each individual day, and is uncontrollable by us.

 

[Croptastic Ltd]

The farmers expertise is the key to improving the harvest window time. Post harvest yield and financial losses is the motivation for attempting a complimentary method. UK 2017 post harvest loss was £11M. Farmers are also incurring high losses if the Barley doesn't meet the Maltsers, Breweries and Distillers standards. The Machine learning model will provide the exact moisture content, nitrogen level and germination rate. Kindly bear in mind its a pilot scheme. If we can reduce post harvest loss and increase profit, it could be an asset to farmers.

 

[Croptastic Ltd]

the e mail is [email protected]

 

[bankrupt]

I received a test e mail.

That was direct in to your address.

The link you posted above always comes up confused with Craptastic.

craptastic - Wiktionary, the free dictionary

en.wiktionary.org

 

[Croptastic Ltd]

Ah! Thanks for pointing that out. Its best to e mail me directly. Not sure why the link isn't working.

 

[Croptastic Ltd]

Hi,
I just tried the link and it seems to be working.

 

[D14]

Hi, I am Ben the Director of Croptastic Ltd. I run a start up based in Leicester that is looking to optimise the harvest window time of Barley using a Machine learning model. I'm trying to contact barley farmers to take part in a pilot scheme. I was wondering if you could assist.
Kind regards, Ben

I don’t see the point in this. You harvest it when it’s ready. If you harvest earlier then you’ll need spend extra money drying the crop and then turning the straw to get it into a fit state to bale.

Barley is worth about £120/t average over the last few years so what you are suggesting could potentially increase costs considerably.

What you need to remember is that in a poor malting spec year the buyers tend to relax the spec required and take stuff that normally wouldn’t meet the desired spec and blend it so as ‘that’ grower we tend to get more money for doing nothing extra. We always harvest to avoid drying costs as generally you end up handling the stuff multiple times to dry it. Let it dry in the field and it costs nothing.

 

[Pieces_of_Eight]

Starting up on 10th July every year

What happens if it rains on the 10th July?

Most growers I know tend to start combining when the ears are ripe, the straw isn't green and the floor is dry (and assess all three without looking at the calendar).

 

[bankrupt]

What happens if it rains on the 10th July?

Go down the pub and start on the 11th.

 

[Croptastic Ltd]

I don’t see the point in this. You harvest it when it’s ready. If you harvest earlier then you’ll need spend extra money drying the crop and then turning the straw to get it into a fit state to bale.

Barley is worth about £120/t average over the last few years so what you are suggesting could potentially increase costs considerably.

What you need to remember is that in a poor malting spec year the buyers tend to relax the spec required and take stuff that normally wouldn’t meet the desired spec and blend it so as ‘that’ grower we tend to get more money for doing nothing extra. We always harvest to avoid drying costs as generally you end up handling the stuff multiple times to dry it. Let it dry in the field and it costs nothing.

Thanks for your insight. Its really appreciated and useful to the potential model. The ultimate aim is to benefit the farmers. Can I ask a few questions?
1. What variables do you consider indicating the barley is ready for harvesting?
2. Is the harvest a window or a specific time?
3. If a window, what variables determine when it ends and begins?
4. Is there a particular date when the yield is best?
5. What happens to the yield if the specs are not relaxed and how much loss is incurred?

I am trying to develop something that will minimise the potential losses. Kindly e mail me if you will like to take part in the scheme on [email protected] It will initially be just a friendly discussion to understand the challenges and how best we can assist.

 

[D14]

Thanks for your insight. Its really appreciated and useful to the potential model. The ultimate aim is to benefit the farmers. Can I ask a few questions?
1. What variables do you consider indicating the barley is ready for harvesting?
2. Is the harvest a window or a specific time?
3. If a window, what variables determine when it ends and begins?
4. Is there a particular date when the yield is best?
5. What happens to the yield if the specs are not relaxed and how much loss is incurred?

I am trying to develop something that will minimise the potential losses. Kindly e mail me if you will like to take part in the scheme on [email protected] It will initially be just a friendly discussion to understand the challenges and how best we can assist.

You can’t farm by a diary. It’s the biggest mistake anybody can make.

In answer to your questions:

1. Moisture content
2. When it’s ready
3. It’s done when it’s done
4. When it’s ready
5. Nothing

It appears you are trying to over complicate something very simple called ‘mother nature’

 

[Croptastic Ltd]

Thanks. I agree you can't farm by a diary but you can consider data variables. Its a new method and it has to compliment established methods. No one can control mother nature. However, we can always examine the causes of post harvest loss and weather conditions are just one cause.

Let me know if your interested in the scheme.

 

[Brisel]

Thanks for your insight. Its really appreciated and useful to the potential model. The ultimate aim is to benefit the farmers. Can I ask a few questions?
1. What variables do you consider indicating the barley is ready for harvesting?
2. Is the harvest a window or a specific time?
3. If a window, what variables determine when it ends and begins?
4. Is there a particular date when the yield is best?
5. What happens to the yield if the specs are not relaxed and how much loss is incurred?

I am trying to develop something that will minimise the potential losses. Kindly e mail me if you will like to take part in the scheme on [email protected] It will initially be just a friendly discussion to understand the challenges and how best we can assist.

1. How ripe the grain is, how ripe the straw is, moisture content, whether the neighbours have started and not broken their machine down.... What the weather is like at the time, what the weather forecast is, what other time pressures there are.
2. When it is ripe. This varies from year to year according to the growing season, particularly sunlight during grain fill.
3. It begins as soon as I get the harvester to the field and ends when it is completed which varies according to weather conditions, breakdowns etc.
4. As soon as it is ripe. Once ripe, barley plants brackle over and ear losses rise considerably
5. Yield = quantity of grain in the shed. Loss is either in the field as header losses at the front of the combine (see brackling above), combine losses through bad settings or excessive speed causing grain to stay in the straw. Losses in store are down to poor drying or storage or spillage. You can get the odd loss on the way between the field and the shed if the trailer drivers have more ambition than ability or have forgotten to shut the tailgate properly. Malting barley can be downgraded to feed barley. The price falls but someone will usually buy it, at a price.

I grow spring malting barley, so need to harvest it as soon as it is ripe to maintain the quality and prevent brackling losses. I usually start 2-3 days before it is fully ripe to give time to iron out any teething problems with machinery and because I don't have much patience at that time of year. I don't grow winter barley which tends to be the first crop harvested, so many farmers start a few days early because;

1. It looks more ripe than it actually is. This usually causes blockages that take a couple of days to fix, by which time the crop is actually ripe
2. The neighbours are having a go and they don't want to feel left out
3. Since this is the first time the machinery has been used, there are invariably a few problems not detected during winter servicing and it's good to get them out of the way early on, not sit and watch the crop lose quality and quantity by starting later and still losing 1-2 days through breakdowns.

Am I taking the p*ss? Partly, yes. Not about the bits concerning brackling and starting before it is fully ripe though. Some of my comments are more of an observation on farmer gamesmanship.