It’s especially not useful when it comes to technology and forage harvesting. In fact, Jerod Schmidt of Norm-E-Lane Farm Inc. in central Wisconsin has taken a very careful and studied approach to forage technology – and advises others to start small as well and build from there.
Norm-E-Lane Farm is a 2,500-cow dairy in central Wisconsin with 2,800 acres corn silage and 2,200 acres in pure alfalfa or alfalfa-grass mix. Schmidt is the crops and equipment manager and says, “Technology is exciting, but it has to be set up, and that takes some time. I put a lot of time into it, attended classes and had to figure out how it worked."
"But the biggest thing is to figure out first what kind of information you want and know how you want to use it. You need to know how you are going to implement the data back into decision-making to justify collecting it. That’s the starting point.”
Schmidt started with a desktop cropping program, SMS Advanced from Ag Leader, because he wanted to get better at record-keeping.
Layer 1
The desktop program initially consisted of a lot of manual input, entering field layouts, soil types and general farm data. Norm-E-Lane Farm consists of several 60-, 80- and 100-acre fields. One field is as large as 360 acres, but there are some smaller 10-acre fields, as well.
Then Schmidt started recording better field history, planting history (dates, seeding rates and varieties), input records and yield history. It took a few years to build the database, but each year the information became more valuable.
Schmidt says, “Our crop insurance company is very impressed with the records we’ve been able to provide. It’s very detailed. We’ve got a record from every pass, every field – literally – all right there.
Our frustration is that a lot of the insurance company information is based on old maps, and we’re pulling up more detail and more accurate data with the GPS system.” Then, Schmidt says, if there’s any question, they can look back and pull information from years past.
Layer 2
Mapping overlays came next. Mapping overlays have many applications, from topography and soil mapping to fertilizer applications. In addition to those, Norm-E-Lane Farm maps liquid manure applications based on flow meter readings.
The manure is tested so they know exactly what nutrients are being applied. These maps are overlaid on the farm fields and are incorporated into the subsequent yield/productivity calculations.
The results of the mapping overlays mean Schmidt can create variable-rate planting prescriptions based on how corn hybrids performed in field conditions, not only in each field but within a single field. Each year he analyzes the yield data on each hybrid and can determine how well a hybrid performed in each part of the field.
He finds variations within fields where one hybrid will perform well in one area, but another hybrid performs better in another area of the same field. Schmidt says, “We change our seed every year; some we’ll keep, but we make our seed corn decisions in August and September now for the following year. We just have that data ready to pull and can make that decision earlier than we used to.”
Layer 3
The next layer of technology involved the forage harvester. Combining and grain harvest yield monitors have been around a lot longer than forage harvester monitors. “There just aren’t as many harvester companies focusing on it,” Schmidt says, “but that’s changing.
Even if a guy works with a co-op for the record-keeping, you can find ways to add information to the system, but you have to know what you want to get out of it.”
Schmidt says he’ll take the planting population, fertilizer applications and soil type, but it all comes down to the yield – good accurate yield data. During harvest, they calibrate the harvester several times a day in several parts of a field.
When the silage wagons go across the scales, the driver calls back to the operator and tells him the weights. The operator takes that information and types it into the harvester module, which corrects the harvester calibration.
This calibration may occur only once in a 10-acre field or four to six times in a 60-acre field, depending on how consistent Schmidt knows the field to be and how many times he determines calibration is needed.
Layer 4
Schmidt says there are several apps available from various manufacturers that can assist and work across several data management programs. Norm-E-Lane Farm is working with an app now in its development stages to help the harvest crew connect in real-time.
It will allow Schmidt to connect in real-time with the harvesters to know where they are and how much of a field has been harvested. Harvester operators can locate trucks, and truck drivers, in turn, with a smartphone can find where the forage harvesters are.
While that layer may seem like merely a convenience, Schmidt says it saves time and fuel and creates greater efficiency. It can be pre-programmed to include the location of field entrances and exits, which also saves time.
The missing layer
Within a year or so, Schmidt says he’d like the harvest yield weights to be transferred wirelessly and integrated with the record program, requiring less manual input and increasing the accuracy. That technology is available in Germany, and he’s working with a company to bring it to Wisconsin. He says it may take a year or more to make it happen, but that’s the next step for them.
Also, this next season his focus is on planting two hybrids in a field. Where the corn planter has two meters, they have the ability to plant one hybrid in one part of the field and another hybrid in another part of the field, while the meters switch back and forth according to the prescription.
The technology programs and their data collections have helped them determine minutely which corn varieties perform better in which parts of each field.
Using the data
Schmidt says, “When we plant with variable-rate planting, we know how much the seed costs, so then we have a dollar value report that’ll show $118 for seed in this area, $112 for seed in twhis area … and then we have all our tillage and spray passes.
Then comes harvest time – same thing – we have a map that will show us what the silage values are, and we can overlay that with all the input costs and see if that’s good or bad. Then we can make a decision for next year. It’s just good useful data.”
Schmidt also says he can pull up the farm information on his laptop and put in the day’s plan – for instance, “we’re going to chop corn silage today in fields nine through 12.” Then an operator can go to the farm, get in the harvester, turn on the screen, and a message will pop up that will tell the operator there are new tasks to import.
When the operator accepts and downloads the tasks, a GPS map will show him how to get to the right field. When he’s done harvesting that field, he indicates on the monitor that’s he done with that task and exports the data back to the main program, where Schmidt can pull it up with all the pertinent data.
“What’s nice is that I had an operator that, for instance, I pulled him up on the desktop to see where he was because I remembered he wasn’t familiar with the field and there was a ditch that he would have hit without seeing it,” Schmidt says. “So I sent a message that would pop up on his screen that said there was a ditch ahead and he should talk to one of the drivers who could show him where it was at.” Schmidt says that kind of communication is really nice and saves headaches.
Challenges
Schmidt admits managing the technology and analyzing the data is now a full-time job for one person. “I wouldn’t have said that a year ago,” Schmidt says, “but every day, every evening, I’m on the computer downloading information and writing prescriptions. What’s nice is that going forward I can write prescriptions from my iPad and send it to the planter. So my office is becoming more outside.”
Another challenge is having employees overwhelmed quickly with data responsibilities. Schmidt says the forage harvesters, for instance, want to get in the machine “and go” until the field is finished and move on to the next one.
They’re task-focused, not necessarily data-focused. “But if I have the chopper set up ahead of time so they just have to start the task, end the task and export it,” Schmidt says, “it takes the complication out of it for them. The machine will collect the data.”
Schmidt says that while silage planting and harvesting technology can be overwhelming, it’s quite doable by adding one layer of information at a time. He emphasizes, “Data collection should directly impact management decisions. It is like going to school. Every year is new and the forage harvester (or data harvester) is the teacher that gives you a grade on everything that went into that crop.
And then you can study and apply that for next season. We never graduate; we just keep going to school to apply what we learn.” FG
PHOTO: Norm-E-Lane Farm uses a Krone BiG X 1100 harvester with multiple data displays installed during harvest. Schmidt says data collection should directly impact management decisions. Photo courtesy of Jerod Schmidt.
