Yield Mapping? Pretty pictures or Useful!

[Whynot]

Just bought a secondhand Lexion 480E with yield mapping built in. Already running Gatekeeper, VRA fertiliser and Autosteer GPS.

Is it worth spending extra money to import maps onto PC or will it just confirm what I already know(soil types etc.)??

Bit worried all I'll get is pretty maps on office wall.

Any ideas??

 

[Ben M]

i definately think its useful to see whats happening yield wise. not always obvious from the sprayer/combine seat

 

[Alistair Nelson]

Think that it is crucial because you can then use them to generate genuine off take maps for P and K once you had got your indices to a sensible level by grid sampling. A number of people on here have gone that route.

We are doing something similar where we sample one in six years apply kieserite to correct Mg from that and do 2 application of P and K over the next 3 years using the soil map. Then do 2 applications of P and K over the next 3 years to yield Maps with manual adjustments to any major issues highlighted in the previous soil maps. Then get the land remapped again. We are definitely getting more even indices and saving a lot of fert and not been held to ransom by any sampling companies as we are generating our own application maps.

All in all I would say go for it. You will learn a lot more about your land as well as saving a lot of money

Alistair

 

[Stoxs]

Alistair what software are you using to generate maps?
what systems are you using in the field(greenstar)

thanks

 

[Farmer Wally]

We installed yield mapping last year on a CX8090 and we used a free version of the New Holland PLM Viewer to look at and print maps. The PLM viewer is just the same as farmworks but a basic viewer. I would say you could use that as basic software to see if you think its worth investing in software to suit your gatekeeper.

I found it interesting to see the yield maps(even though all yields were poor last year) especially when you cross referenced them with Hectare grid soil test results. Some of our lower than average yields last year on the map seemed to have slightly lower Ph levels and lower Phosphorous indices.

 

[Steevo]

We installed yield mapping last year on a CX8090 and we used a free version of the New Holland PLM Viewer to look at and print maps. The PLM viewer is just the same as farmworks but a basic viewer. I would say you could use that as basic software to see if you think its worth investing in software to suit your gatekeeper.

I found it interesting to see the yield maps(even though all yields were poor last year) especially when you cross referenced them with Hectare grid soil test results. Some of our lower than average yields last year on the map seemed to have slightly lower Ph levels and lower Phosphorous indices.

Are you going to stick with the free software?

 

[Alistair Nelson]

We using Farmworks software with Agleader Kit for Yield Mapping and Steering the combine, Steering and Controlling the Drill, Steering the cultivations, tractor and steering and controlling the fert spreader for VRA P, K, MG from Farmworks and N with the Optrx sensors. Then there is a sprayer coming with Steering, section and height control fitted. I hope that helps explain how we pulled it together

Alistair

Alistair what software are you using to generate maps?
what systems are you using in the field(greenstar)

thanks

 

[Stoxs]

thank you thats great,
It would be our next step in precision farming producing yield maps and using them.
we are running the greenstar systems on tractors but got a claas combine without yield mapping, thinking the next one will have mapping on.

 

[Farmer Wally]

Are you going to stick with the free software?

Not sure which software to dive into to be honest.
The Free PLM viewer is was fine for a basic viewer for your yield maps but thats all.
We also tried the full farmworks trial version which enabled us to do so much more including make VRA maps for our Vicon Geo Spreader
Our problem like others using a Topcon X30 is finding total compatibility with software to save all recorded data and file types, but i have heard software updates are on the way to help with. ( but i've heard those stories before)

We are not going to rush into spending until we know everything is compatible with Topcon

 

[Stoxs]

compatabiltity is the big problem at the moment,
be it machiney to tractors or farm office to tractors .
Give it 5 years and i think most will be easy to cross comply.

I hope so anyway

 

[Brisel]

Think that it is crucial because you can then use them to generate genuine off take maps for P and K once you had got your indices to a sensible level by grid sampling. A number of people on here have gone that route.

We are doing something similar where we sample one in six years apply kieserite to correct Mg from that and do 2 application of P and K over the next 3 years using the soil map. Then do 2 applications of P and K over the next 3 years to yield Maps with manual adjustments to any major issues highlighted in the previous soil maps. Then get the land remapped again. We are definitely getting more even indices and saving a lot of fert and not been held to ransom by any sampling companies as we are generating our own application maps.

All in all I would say go for it. You will learn a lot more about your land as well as saving a lot of money

Alistair

Beware of using yield maps for K offtake, particularly if you are baling straw. K leaches from lighter land, especially sand yet is released by clay. P should be ok & there isn't too much in straw. Your method does allow you to stretch your resampling interval by another 2 years. Do you treat pH differently?

I have 5 years of yield maps & I'm working out how to draw conclusions from them & so far there's no major conclusions. I ignore osr as pigeon damage can really give a false impression. There are so many variables to consider when comparing yield to P, K, Mg, pH, conductivity/soil type etc. To back up the maps I make notes on things like subsoiling, seedbed quality, tiller numbers, ear numbers & yield elsewhere to help build a picture up. I'm all JD Greenstar based with all maps imported into Gatekeeper. A rainy day project is to superimpose a 5 year average yield map with all the other nutrient & soil survey maps to see patterns - there are a few from doing this manually by putting printouts side by side.

Low yielding areas where nutrient levels look ok warrant a trip to that area with a spade after harvest to investigate further. Information is great but if you don't do anything with it then it's just lots of pretty pictures

 

[Mounty]

15-20% inaccuracies on a lot of yield maps plus data will need cleaning to get anything from it. Ok as a guide though

 

[farmerfred86]

I always thought of this a pretty picture until we started variable rate drilling... Now we need it to determine if we are getting results...

 

[Erik Borup]

we have used mapping for 15 years and poor soild is = low yield. when you know your soil there is no big surprice in the results, but i like to do variable fertilizer. think there will be some improvement to make.

 

[Stoxs]

If you are into on farm trials be it fungicide or cultivations or variable rates i think mapping is the only tool to create results from.
Often been caught out by just looking at it!!
cant wait until we go down the mapping route, got lots of trials to try on our land and will look forward to see the results.

 

[Erik Borup]

true true. but its not the holey grail