As your chores shift from planting to crop scouting, you notice some deficiencies in your field that need to be corrected. Or maybe you have four file folders full of yield maps and you are wondering how to make them pay off.

Or somewhere you have had a hankering to learn more about Global Positioning Systems, and improve your management by jacking up your technology abilities. Son, you’ve come to the right place!

Let’s imagine that you have corn to plant, but your ag association wants you to make several lobbying calls at the same time. Maybe the Missus wants you to balance the family checkbook on your handheld computer while you are cultivating beans. No problem, if you have some GPS software and hardware with an auto-guidance system on your tractor.

Maybe you have acquired an obscene number of acres to farm, and your equipment will have to be running 24/7 to get everything accomplished.

But if those scenarios are too far out of the box, let’s imagine that you have a set of yield maps from your combine, and one of the colors defines a spot in your field that seems to have a 75% yield problem. If that is closer to your interest in GPS, let’s become familiar with the term “spatial statistics,” and Purdue’s Terry Griffin, who says, “Spatial statistics assume that data is spatially correlated and explicitly includes that in the analysis. This is in contrast to the usual assumption of independent observations. Most yield monitor and other site-specific data is spatially correlated. If that correlation is not accounted for in the analysis, results will be biased and misleading. Yield monitor data with appropriate spatial analysis can lead to more reliable decision making with limited replications.” So maybe you are already halfway toward solving your problem, and you just need to take the extra step.

In addition to the scenarios described above, Griffin says the folks who will be farming tomorrow know that “GPS navigation allows more timely field operations improving yields and increasing area farmed with a given equipment set. GPS NT (navigation technologies) have been used for spatially sensitive practices such as controlled trafficking in compaction prone soils, side-dress nitrogen, and input placement in strip till systems.” His research shows positive financial returns for producers who install a lightbar for nighttime operation of equipment with the necessary electronics.

These issues will all be explored in a conference June 23 in Bloomington, IL, featuring Griffin and Dr. Qin Zhang of the University of Illinois and others speaking about the use of GPS in farm management, automated guidance systems, and many related topics in general and breakout sessions. There will be industry presentations and field demonstrations, all between 8:30 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. at the Interstate Center on IL route 9, just west of I-55 on the west side of Bloomington. The $15 registration fee includes lunch, breaks and handouts. To register, contact the McLean County Extension Unit at (309) 663-8306.

Summary:

You have read about GPS for many years, and spent some money for a yield monitor that provides information for stuffing files and sending to landowners. You know there is more to GPS than that, and there are many opportunities to improve your management and revenue opportunities by taking the next step forward. There is no doubt that such a move will require an investment in hardware and software, however, with a measured approach, some out-of-the-box thinking, and proper research, you can take your farm into the future. It is that attitude that landowners and farm managers look for if they are doing the proper due diligence in selecting operators.

Stu Ellis

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