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Title: CONTINUOUS GRAIN YIELD MONITORING

Author
item PEREZ-MUNOZ, FERNANDO - IOWA STATE UNIVERSITY
item Colvin, Thomas

Submitted to: Transactions of the ASAE
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 1/15/1996
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary: Precision farming or applying the right amount of input material to the right part of a field at the right time is an old idea that was not really technically feasible until recently. There is a great deal of knowledge still needed to make precision farming a widely-used management approach. One part of this knowledge is how a continuous stream of data from a yield monitor can be broken into discreet pieces of information relating to small areas of the field. We tested a yield monitor to determine if we could do that. We were successful. Manufacturers of yield monitors and software developers can use our techniques along with other information to develop robust methods of data packaging for small areas of field.

Technical Abstract: Performance of an electronic yield monitor was evaluated in controlled and field environments. Laboratory experiments were conducted with forces applied by a universal testing machine on the grain flow sensor of the yield monitor. The yield monitor was then field tested on a combine on two different row lengths. The yield reported by the monitor in the laboratory was closely related to a calculated yield (r > 0.99). Yield results reported by the monitor in the field for the 100 m long strips closely agreed with yields based on the amount of grain as determined by scales. When the monitor was used on 20 m rows, there was more scatter in the results because of influence of starting and stopping delays as well as isolated pulses of grain out of the combine's grain elevator. The goal of splitting the signal from a yield monitor on a continuously moving combine to provide spot yields within a field was not completely accomplished. Field results reported here and by users indicate that yield mapping with continuous flow monitors is feasible. These results further suggest that yield monitors are mechanically reliable and will provide accurate enough information for producer's yield maps.