theField - Ag Leader Technology

Winter 2013
The Precision Farming Magazine
I Could’ve
Had a
V8
Productivity +
Efficiency =
Profitability
The
100 YEAR
Payback
Reports from
the Field
Winter 2013
| Insights Magazine | 1
Contents Winter 2013
4
Productivity + Efficiency =
Profitability
4
I Could’ve Had a V8 8
The 100-Year Payback
12
20 Reasons to Tile
15
Precision Pioneers
16
Reports from the Field 20
12
20
Short-Term Tenants
Long-Term Investment
22
Spring 2012
The Precision Farming Magazine
Where the Grass is
Always Greener
Precision Ag
in the Developing World
Whack
Away
at Planting Challenges
With Hydraulic Down Force
Spring 2012
8
2 | Insights Magazine | Winter 2013
22
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From One Ag Leader to Another
Happy New Year! Whether you are a grower, a service provider, an Ag Leader dealer or
working in one of the many departments in the home office, you contribute to who we
are as a company. Together, we are Ag Leader.
While it’s key to what we do and fundamental to growing our business, we’re not just
about developing hardware and software solutions. It’s about the service that goes above
and beyond what can be found working with other precision ag enterprises.
When you combine all of the different aspects of service that come out of our
organization—product development, manufacturing, shipping, hardware and software
technical support, sales, marketing, the North America dealer network, international
distributors and others—you can see just how integrated we are with the people we
serve all over the world. We believe this integration helps build productive businesses,
and we take much pride in our ability to help our dealers and international distributors
become more successful. And they in turn can do that for the customers they serve.
“We believe this
integration helps
build productive
businesses, and we
take much pride
in our ability to
help our dealers
and international
distributors become
more successful,”
Al says.
In addition, we believe in localized support, which is why we’ve opened international
offices and placed Territory Managers and Field Technicians across the country to bring
personalized service and practical business support to every individual who sells our
products. These individuals are the face of our company, and we want folks to feel that
local dedication every time you look to us for precision technology solutions.
2013 will be an exciting year for precision agriculture and we look forward to bringing
you even better service and more exceptional product offerings.
Best regards,
Al Myers
Winter 2013
| Insights Magazine | 3
Productivity +
Efficiency =
Profitability
Illinois family insists
the SMS software
learning curve is fast
and easy
4 | Insights Magazine | Winter 2013
“We’re able to monitor things on the farm better than we
ever could before. Everything … all the data … is at our
fingertips. It’s been easy,” Tyler says.
T
hroughout the ages,
farm families have
passed on their skills and
knowledge of farming to the
next generation. And in this day
and age of technology, it’s no
different. Today, however, many
children are also contributing
to the learning curve, teaching
parents a thing or two about
farming technology.
Galva, Illinois, producers Al
Johnston and his son, Tyler,
are part of a multigeneration
farming family that fits that
mold. They grow corn and
soybeans on their 4,000-acre,
strip-till operation. Yet, the
Johnstons have always been
progressive thinkers and eager
to learn the newest industry
trends, which includes the use
of Ag Leader’s SMS™ Advanced
software package. Tyler, 26,
graduated from college a few
years ago and began working off
the farm for another employer,
where he learned the basics
of SMS before returning to the
family operation a year later.
in their precision farming
operation. With the ability to
combine data from various
sources — from planting,
fertilizing, spraying, harvesting
or guidance — growers can
make more informed decisions
and reap the benefits of their
calculated actions.
Ag Leader’s SMS software,
available in Basic, Advanced
and Mobile formats, recently
added two new modules to
its Advanced format — Water
Management and Plot Pilot
Prescription. The new Water
Management module includes
a tile plan editor enabling users
to map out and plan where tile
lines should be installed on
their farm, setting constraints
on how shallow, how deep and
the minimum grade to maintain
adequate water flow. The Plot
Prescription module allows
users to strategically place and
define in-field research plots
in the office and then use these
plot prescriptions to plant in the field.
Tyler says he was drawn to
Ag Leader’s SMS Advanced
software system, thanks
to features like expanded
Batch Processing, Project
Organization and Integrated 3D
Mapping, as well as powerful
analysis functions that include
Attribute Comparisons,
Equation Writing, Multi-Year
Averaging, NDVI Data Creation
and Profit/Loss Mapping.
While Tyler finds the SMS
software easy to use, he says he
continues to learn new ways on
which to apply the technology
on the farm. And because his
dad has always stayed on top
of recent trends in farming, he
says he enthusiastically reviews
the data on a regular basis.
“It wasn’t difficult to sell him
on the SMS software,” Tyler
says. “I kind of take the lead in
using the software, but he is
very interested in evaluating the
information we generate.”
The Johnstons primarily rely
on the SMS Advanced format to
provide yield data, Tyler says.
And while Tyler is still charting
his yield increase since using
SMS Advanced, he says the
biggest benefit has been to the farm’s productivity and efficiency.
“We’re able to monitor things
on the farm better than we
ever could before,” he says.
“Where I worked before, they
were doing a lot with SMS to
manage various functions and
tasks, so when I came back to
work for our family farm, we
decided to make it a part of our
operation,” Tyler says.
Ag Leader’s SMS — or Spatial
Management System —
software is used to manage
fields by seamlessly integrating
a variety of data in a userfriendly manner. The software
also manages data without
GPS position data. Its critical
function is to help growers
make important decisions
Winter 2013
| Insights Magazine | 5
“Even if we save a small percentage on seed, that dollar
savings is huge because seed costs are high,” Tyler says.
“Everything … all the data …
is at our fingertips. It’s been easy.”
In addition, Tyler says the use
of Ag Leader’s SMS Advanced
software has helped their
variable rate seed costs.
planning/support, specifically
to generate A-B guidance lines,
archive guidance lines from
the field for future use and to
import/export guidance lines
to and from multiple brands of
guidance systems.
field operations such as tillage,
baling; as well as information
about tile lines, landmarks, soil
type maps, etc. Many growers
also use the information for government and insurance reporting.
“Even if we save a small
percentage on seed, that dollar
savings is huge because seed
costs are high,” he says.
In fact, SMS Advanced software
can assist growers with seed cost
savings on several levels — by generating variable-rate
seed prescriptions, enabling
them to choose higher yielding
seed based on historical yield
performance, layering planting
and harvest maps to easily
compare seed performance,
tracking split-planting
operations, and mapping all
hybrids, planting dates, bags
planted and location.
The Johnstons also rely on
Ag Leader’s SMS Advanced
software for its guidance
6 | Insights Magazine | Winter 2013
The Johnstons gain a wealth of information about their
operations using SMS Advanced software.
Of course, the software includes
a number of sampling/scouting/
reporting features, such as the
ability to create and manage
soil sampling, crop scouting
data; data from many different
During harvest, SMS software
benefits growers by allowing
them to analyze harvest data by
field area, application records,
overlay hybrid/variety maps
with harvest maps to determine
yield performance, review
yield performance by year and
overlay yield maps with other
field operations to determine
how field activities affected yield
across the field.
“The SMS technology, as well
as all the technology we use on
the farm has definitely trimmed
our costs and we expect to reap
the benefits in increased yield,”
he says.
Tyler does utilize Ag Leader’s
SMS Mobile, as well, but admits
he hasn’t invested the time
to put it to use. SMS Mobile
supports a number of in-field
logging options, including a
boundary mode for defining
or editing field boundaries,
logging and editing of points,
lines or polygons, which is
useful for logging things like
tile lines or management zones.
Additionally, SMS Mobile can
log coverage data for tracking
field operations, such as tillage
or mowing. It features a soilsampling mode that allows
users to create and/or navigate
to an area to pull soil samples.
Al and Tyler Johnston use SMS Software to plan guidance and create application strategies using their Hagie sprayer.
Ag Leader growers claim SMS
is easy to use.
“Whether they’re just getting their feet
wet in precision farming or have been
collecting data for years, users don’t
have to be a computer genius to use
the system,” Tyler says.
“Whether they’re just getting
their feet wet in precision
farming or have been collecting
data for years, users don’t have
to be a computer genius to use
the system,” he says.
He sought minimal training
through his local dealer, Bruce
West of West Enterprises, to
supplement his knowledge from
online research.
“It’s been well worth the time
it took to put it into practice,”
Tyler concludes. “Yet, there’s
still so much more we can do.”
Winter 2013
| Insights Magazine | 7
I Could’ve
Had a V8
Ag Leader products help these
Ohio farmers produce a variety
of vegetables, in addition to corn
and soybeans
8 | Insights Magazine | Winter 2013
“... I’ve always loved technology. When I came home, I put our farm
accounting system on desktop computers shortly after they became
available,” Baughman says.
I
f you’ve ever had a glass of
V8® juice or perhaps a bowl
of Campbell’s® vegetable
soup, you’ve probably consumed
some of the produce grown
by Tom Baughman and his
son-in-law, Kyle Shepard,
who farm nearly 4,000 acres
near Napoleon, Ohio. Of the
eight different vegetables in V8
juice — beets, carrots, parsley,
celery, lettuce, watercress,
spinach and tomato — Tom
Baughman Farms, LLC,
consistently grows three of the
ingredients. In fact, in 2012,
the harvest from approximately
125 acres of carrots, 90 acres
of parsley and 50 acres of red
beets on the Baughman farm
went to the Campbell Soup
Company plant in Napoleon.
Along with a variety of Campbell
soups, the Napoleon plant,
which is still the largest
Campbell plant in the world,
produces V8 juice, a Campbell
brand since 1948.
“The plant actually located here
in the late 1950s,” Baughman
relates. “So my dad, who was
very innovative, started growing
vegetables for contract with
Campbell. He started with
carrots in the early 1960s and
got into parsley and beets a few
years later.”
By the 1980s, the family had
added potatoes and green
beans for other markets
and had, at one time, grown
spinach for use in V8. They’ve
since dropped the spinach,
though, and Campbell found
it easier to get their spinach
supply from Michigan. However,
Baughman and Shepard
continue to grow about 650
acres of first and doublecropped green beans that go
Tom Baughman reviews field maps using his SMS Software. He uses the software to analyze approximately 4,000
acres of a combination of crops, including carrots, parsley, red beets, corn and soybeans.
to a fresh market company
and 120 acres of potatoes for
Campbell’s soups.
In addition to 1,000 acres of
vegetables that vary in acreage,
depending on the contracts,
Tom Baughman Farms also
“In the last 10 years, with the
increase in grain prices, corn
and soybeans have become a
lot more lucrative and nearly as
profitable as vegetables, with
all things being considered,”
he says. “There are obviously
a lot more risks and expenses
“I figured out one time that if we disc/chisel 2,000
acres and cut the overlap from a foot to a foot-and
-a-half down to four inches, it would be like cutting
out 40 acres of tillage, fuel, labor and depreciation,”
Baughman says.
grows around 2,000 acres of
field corn and 1,200 to 1,300
acres of soybeans. Ironically,
Baughman is now finding corn and soybeans to be even stronger competition to vegetables.
involved with vegetables,
given the fact that you have to
grade them, use specialized
equipment, etc. But they still fit in well with our rotation program.”
In the meantime, Baughman
and Shepard have added grain
storage for at least a half million
bushels and devoted a lot of the
new ground they’ve acquired to
row crops. They’ve also adopted
a wealth of technology to make
planting, tillage and harvesting
even easier, while giving them a better handle on yields and profitability.
“When I graduated from high
school, I actually left the
farm for a while as I pursued
a degree in mechanical
engineering at Ohio State
University and took a job with
Alcoa Aluminum,” Baughman
explains. “So I’ve always loved
technology. When I came home, I put our farm accounting system on desktop
computers shortly after they
became available.”
Winter 2013
| Insights Magazine | 9
“In addition, we’ve been doing
yield mapping for 12 years and
have had RTK guidance now for
five or six years,” he continues,
noting that they first used
lightbar guidance. “I could see
so much potential for gain by
having lead rows within plus
or minus half-an-inch instead
of plus or minus four or five
11 other farmers to form TriState RTK Network, LLC, which
now has towers to cover most
of northwest Ohio, northeast
Indiana and southeast Michigan.
After four years, we’re up to 80
or 90 subscriptions and we’re
starting to get back some of our money.”
late March and early April,
we’ll also have all three of our
planter tractors set up for RTK
guidance. That not only lets us
plant row crops and vegetables
into the night, but it ensures the
rows are straight, so that when
we come back with the sprayer,
we’re not running over a row of
carrots or beets. So that really
helps us out.”
Kyle Shepard uses RTK guidance and his Ag Leader Integra display for planting one of seven Ag Leader displays used in the operation.
inches. Even with tillage and
spraying, I could envision the
benefit of eliminating overlap.
In fact, I figured out one time
that if we disc/chisel 2,000
acres and cut the overlap from
a foot to a foot-and-a-half
down to four inches, it would
be like cutting out 40 acres
of tillage, fuel, labor, and
depreciation,” he says, allowing
the engineering side of his
personality to reveal itself. “We
finally got to the point, though,
where we needed more reliable
satellite coverage. So, instead
of putting up our own tower,
we went in with a group of
10 | Insights Magazine | Winter 2013
That, of course, has prompted
Baughman to invest even
more heavily in guidance,
yield mapping and automatic
control systems via Ag Leader
components. In fact, Baughman
can’t recall whether they have five or six RTK subscriptions themselves.
“We have several InSightTM
displays that we move around
between tractors, harvesters
and combines,” he says.
“Obviously, our big floater and
RoGator® sprayer also have
RTK units in them, as well as
AutoSwathTM, to automatically
turn the booms on and off. In
Although all the guidance
displays in Baughman’s
inventory are Ag Leader InSight
units tied to RTK – Nav II
automated steering systems,
they did make an upgrade last
year to the Ag Leader Integra
display that they use with their
new Case IH 24-row planter to
control variable-rate seeding,
automatic row shutoff and
Advanced Seed Monitoring.
“We wanted this new planter to
have all the latest technology
available, but I really didn’t
want to use the Case IH
display and introduce yet
another system into the mix,”
Baughman relates. “Plus, I feel
like the Ag Leader systems are
a lot more user-friendly. So
we ended up using the existing
InSight unit for guidance and
the Ag Leader Integra display
to control the new planter
features. I don’t know how it
does it, but I particularly like
being able to see the actual
seed drop on the display.
Everyone told us we couldn’t
use anything but the Case
IH AFS 700 display with the
Case IH planter, but with a few
modifications, like changing out
the seed drop sensor and a few
wiring changes, our Ag Leader
dealer was able to get the
display to work just fine.”
Baughman says they have
taken a similar approach
with their Case IH combine.
Even though the machine is
equipped with the Case IH
monitor, which is used to
control threshing functions like
fan speed and sieve opening,
they still use an Ag Leader
InSight unit for RTK guidance
and used this past year, for the first time, the Ag Leader Integra display for yield monitoring.
“We like the simplicity of the
Ag Leader displays, plus,
“Plus, I feel like the Ag Leader
systems are a lot more userfriendly. So we ended up using the
existing InSight unit for guidance
and the Ag Leader Integra to
control the new planter features,”
Baughman says.
”There are obviously a lot more risks and expenses involved with vegetables,
given the fact that you have to grade them, use specialized equipment, etc.
But they still fit in well with our rotation program,” Baughman says.
Among the crops grown and harvested by Johnston
and Shepard are 125 acres of carrots contracted to
Campbell’s Soup Company.
we’re using the Ag Leader
SMSTM Advanced software for
our desktop system,” he says.
“We’re using that for all our
variable-rate applications and
prescriptions, which includes
population control, variable-rate
fertilizer applications, including
28 percent nitrogen and
liquid starter, and all our lime applications.
“We do everything based on
soil maps and yield zones
we’ve established over the past
eight to ten years,” he adds.
“We soil test every three years
and then we have a couple of
crop specialists, experts in
using the SMS software, who
write our fertilizer and seeding
prescriptions for us based
on the soil data, yield zones,
and the nutrition needs of
that particular crop that we’re
planning to put in that field.”
Baughman says RTK guidance
has not only taken their fertility
program into the 21st century,
but it has opened the door to a
whole new tillage program, as
they have adopted strip tillage
on a majority of their corn acres,
as well as their double-cropped
green beans — the latter
planted in strips established
between the first planted crop.
Corn planting, meanwhile,
starts by tilling the strips in
soybean stubble in the fall with
an eight-row Orthman machine.
“We started strip tilling about
four years ago,” he relates.
“However, about three years
ago, we started pulling a
fertilizer cart behind the
Orthman. It’s a dual-capacity
cart, which means we can put
the phosphate in the front and
the potash in the back and
automatically variable rate
both products in a twelve-inch
strip where the corn rows will
follow,” he adds, noting that
the Ag Leader InSight with RTK
allows them to plant right above
that fertility zone.
“I do think the new technology
has paid off,” Baughman
concludes. “When we put the
fertilizer in the strip and started
applying everything variablerate, I know we cut our fertilizer
bill by at least 25 percent and
our yields have remained
consistent. There have also
been times when we’ve had
soybean seed left over after
variable seeding without seeing
any decrease in yields.”
Baughman says their only
problem now is keeping track of
all the Ag Leader units. Despite
having six InSight displays — all
programmed with the same
farm data — one Ag Leader
Integra display, nine controllers
and five receivers, they still
have a hard time, on occasion,
figuring out where all the units
are located.
“When it comes time to shell
corn, we start thinking, ‘Now,
where can we find a display that
isn’t being used?’”
Winter 2013
| Insights Magazine | 11
The 100-YEAR
PAYBACK
Tile Drainage
Brings Water Table
Down, Yields Up
12 | Insights Magazine | Winter 2013
“Beyond increasing yield, tiling reduces flooding, improves downstream
water quality, reduces erosion, provides huge gains to farm income and
even improves roads by redirecting water away from the road where it
will cause erosion,” Hefty says.
I
t didn’t take much to sell
Jasper, Minnesota, grower
Mark Brockberg on the
benefits of installing drainage
tile on his property a few years
ago. Brockberg, who farms with
his dad and brother, tiled his
first 30 acres on his 285-acre
corn and soybean operation
in 2008. His do-it-yourself
experience not only doubled his
yield for that first 30 acres, it
launched Brockberg’s
secondary business
installing tile for other
area growers.
Tiling, which is
designed to remove
excess water from
soil and enhance crop
production, involves
the installation of a
series of perforated,
plastic tubes two to
four feet below the
soil surface. Not
surprisingly, excessive
water not only impairs
root health and overall
crop quality, but it
limits the number of
days for field work and leads to soil compaction.
Soil-Max™ Gold Digger Tile
Plow and Intellislope™ Tile
Plow Control System he used to
do the job. “The tiling paid for
itself in a year.”
Brockberg was first introduced
to the benefits of tiling by
Baltic, South Dakota-based
Hefty Seed Company owner
Brian Hefty, who says tiling
grows in popularity when times
are good and when the weather
Hefty opposes critics of tiling
in agriculture who believe
it hurts the environment by
destroying wetlands and
polluting the water system
with agricultural chemicals — an incorrect conclusion,
he says. For example, he
notes that South Dakota
incorporates approximately
50 million acres, only 20
million of which is devoted to
crop farming.
Likewise, tiling
simply lowers
the water table
in a field and
does not convert
it to runoff, Hefty says.
“The guys who
install the tile fill
up their water
jugs with the tile
water,” Hefty
says. “That’s
how safe the
water is. Science
tells us it’s safe.”
Any crop
producer is a
candidate for
tile drainage, regardless of
where they live geographically,
Hefty says. He recommends
growers learn more about the
benefits by attending classes
offered by dealers or local
educational institutions. Even
better, he says, is to talk with
neighbors who have installed
tile to see for themselves
what’s involved and what
gains they have achieved.
Brian Hefty of Hefty Seed Company is a strong advocate for tiling.
In reality, drain tile can
dramatically improve crop
yield. Brockberg, who captured
yields of 70 to 90 bushels
per acre before his initial tile
installation, later increased
the yield for that same area to
between 140 and 160 bushels
per acre. To-date, he has tiled
85 of what he describes as
“extremely flat” acres.
“The first time I installed tile,
I was very impressed with the
accuracy and ease of use. Now
I provide the service to others,”
says Brockberg in praise of the
is wet. According to Hefty, with
improvements in equipment
and materials over the years,
properly installed tile can last
50 to 100 years. Producers
who make the investment,
Hefty says, reap a number of
benefits.
“Beyond increasing yield, tiling
reduces flooding, improves
downstream water quality,
reduces erosion, provides huge
gains to farm income and even
improves roads by redirecting
water away from the road
where it will cause erosion,”
Hefty says.
Tiling
Benefits
101
When it comes right down to
it, growers want to know what
tiling will do for them. Improving
yield, significantly, is the most
obvious gain. In fact, according
to Soil-Max, in a test of 125
drainage experiments, tiling
increased corn yields by an
estimated 34 percent, alfalfa
by 42 percent, soybeans by 29
percent and wheat by 76 percent.
Other, incidental benefits include
larger, deeper roots, faster soil
warm-up, earlier planting and
less yield variation, allowing
growers a more dependable
cash flow — a benefit that hits
the wallet directly. However, for
Hefty, there’s one tiling benefit
that makes a big difference in his
day-to-day operations.
“The number-one benefit of
tiling is that it makes farming
fun again,” says Hefty Seed
Company owner Brian Hefty.
“Before we tiled our own fields,
we had to farm around the areas
that were too wet and come back
sometimes a month later. It was just a real pain. Now that we’ve tiled, we just farm straight through.”
“It’s a judgment call. Start
small and measure the
results,” Hefty says.
Providing a glimpse into
potential costs, Hefty said
Winter 2013
| Insights Magazine | 13
The 100-Year Payback
that tiling 1,000 acres of rolling
ground can cost $100 per acre
on average, while pattern tiling
(a system of laterals spaced
evenly apart) could cost more than $600 an acre by
a contractor.
“On average, tiling can
consistently increase yield by
15 to 25 percent,” Hefty says.
“And by doing the job yourself,
you can save 30 to 40 percent
on costs.”
hasn’t tiled, his corn yield is
20 bushels per acre less than
those areas that are tiled.
“The economics are there and
it’s easy to do,” Moser says.
“The question then becomes
why wouldn’t you tile?”
Fortunately, today’s technology
makes tiling easy and accurate,
Moser says. Starting with the
Soil-Max Gold Digger Tile
Plow and Intellislope Tile Plow
The Gold Digger Tile Plow
partners with Intellislope, a
part of the Ag Leader Integra
display. The Ag Leader Integra
display in conjunction with an
RTK GPS receiver provides
the control logic to keep the
drainage tile at the proper
depth, and grade to drain the
excess moisture from the
ground. Its AutoTile™ mode
enables growers to drive over
the path where tile needs to
be installed to survey the soil
professionally because they don’t
want to invest in the time to do
it themselves. However, he’s the
first to say Intellislope assists
growers in do-it-yourself tiling
by eliminating manual grade
calculations, laser tripod setup
and repositioning hassles.
However, Moser does caution
growers about some common
mistakes, including backwards
installation, which pushes the
water uphill, as well as installing
the main and lateral lines too
deep and too far apart. Both
Moser and Hefty also caution
growers about the potential
for crushing the tiles during installation.
In addition to Moser and Hefty’s
advice, most extension services
suggest doing your homework
before developing a drainage
plan and specifications, including
reviewing county soil and site
topography surveys, consulting
local drainage experts, exploring
Farm Service Agency aerial
photos and talking with ditch and
downstream water management
authorities. Surface and
subsurface field evaluations are
helpful too.
From a cost perspective, it
simply makes sense to tile,
says Clint Moser of TADBAC
Inc. in Garden Grove, Iowa.
Moser, a full-service Ag
Leader/Soil-Max dealer, had
65 tiling-related bids out
to producers as recently as
November. Moser, himself
a producer, has tiled 2,000
acres of his own flat ground.
And in the 60 acres where he
Control System, success is
within reach. The Gold Digger
can be used to install drainage
tile in a number of different
environments such as sidehill
seeps, draws, in addition
to rolling and flat fields.
Customers have also used the plow for installation of water lines, cables, and sub-irrigation lines.
profile and then control the
depth and grade of the tile.
Additionally, all survey and
installation data is recorded
and can be archived into
mapping programs such as
Ag Leader’s SMS™ Basic or
Advanced for future reference
and tiling additions.
Moser says he works with
a number of producers who
choose to have the tile installed
“I want farmers to prosper, so
I tell them they should at least
explore the idea of tiling,” Hefty
says. “Why wouldn’t you want to make the ground you have better?”
Today, approximately 25 percent
of the farmland in the United
States and Canada is drained,
according to the University of
Minnesota Extension.
“The economics are there and it’s easy to do; the question
then becomes why wouldn’t you tile,” Moser says.
14 | Insights Magazine | Winter 2013
20 Reasons to Tile
1. Higher Yields and Improved
Crop Quality. Yields from over
125 drainage experiments
produced the following estimated
increase in yield attributed to
sub-surface drainage: Corn-34%,
Alfalfa-42%, Soybeans-29%,
Wheat-76%.
7. Less Yield Variation for More
Dependable Cash Flow. In a
university study yields varied
46% on undrained soil versus
18% on tiled soil. Best of all,
yields were consistently high.
11. Increases Yields in Dry
Years. Deeper root development
enables plants to better
withstand summer droughts.
Roots usually penetrate to within
15 inches of the water table.
High water tables in the spring
tile is installed, and as long
as regular maintenance is
performed, the drainage system
will work year after year.
fields have the advantage of
a 5-15 degrees warmer soil
temperature. A wet soil is a cold
soil. Surface evaporation, which
has a cooling effect, is reduced.
4. Larger, Deeper Roots. By
lowering the water table in
the spring, the roots continue
to go down seeking moisture.
Tiling creates air channels to
encourage better root growth
and soil penetration. With
deeper and more prolific roots,
more nutrients are intercepted
and taken in by the plant.
5. Better Soil Aeration. Tiled soil can percolate better,
allowing water and air to reach
the roots. The channels created
from water and air moving down
through the soil to the tile let it breath.
6. More Favorable
Environment for Beneficial
Soil Microorganisms and
Earthworms. By opening the soil
to breath, small microorganisms
and earthworms can now thrive.
These aerobic organisms help
make nitrogen and sulfur more available.
is reduced by increasing the
capacity to hold rainfall and let
it percolate through the soil
instead of running off. Less
erosion allows the fertility levels
and soil structure to stay intact.
16. One-Time Expense. After
2. Faster Soil Warm-up. Tiled
3. Less Compaction. By
drying out faster and not
working the ground wet, there
is less chance of creating a
compaction problem. Many
yield problems can be traced
back to compaction problems.
If you deep-till a tiled field the
chances are better it will stay
uncompacted much better than
non-tiled fields.
15. Less Erosion. Soil erosion
17. Profit at the Top End. It costs virtually the same to
farm 120 bu/acre as it does 170 bu/acre of farmland, maybe
a little more drying and hauling.
It is hard to make decent money
until you hit the 150-220 bushel
yield range. “Good farmers farm
good ground. Tiling turns farms
into good ground.”
8. More Days of Machinery
Operation. With faster dry up
and warmer soils, growers can
get in the fields earlier in the
spring for planting and perform
fall operations later in the
year when cool temperatures
slow down soil drying. Dry
soils allow more timely postemergence applications
and limit compaction.
9. Allows Earlier Planting. A
longer growing season allows
growers to plant earlier for
higher yields. This allows
growers more options when
selecting varieties. In some
years, this can mean a large
difference in yields.
10. Better Soil Structure.
Promotes better soil tilth and
tiling increases soil granulation
to allow better water and air
interaction with the roots. The
soil becomes more porous,
allowing the water to stay where
it lands instead of running off.
due to poor drainage cause
shallow root development and a
smaller soil volume from which
plants can obtain moisture and
nutrients. Since tiled crops
are planted earlier and grow
quicker, they can mature before
late summer stress sets in.
12. Lowers Nitrogen Losses.
Tiling dries the soil to create
the perfect environment for
nitrogen utilization and aerobic
organisms to thrive.
13. Consistent Seed Stands.
Better stands can be achieved
by less seed rotting before
germination. Perfect stands are
more likely when the tiled soil is
10 degrees warmer and the soil
is dry and not mud.
14. Removes Toxins. Certain
toxic substances and disease
organisms are removed from the
soil due to better drainage and
aeration. Iron and manganese
toxicity levels are lowered when
air can reach these elements.
18. Lower Drying Costs. Tiled
crops grow and mature faster
and can be up to 6 points drier in
the fall.
19. Lowers Break-even Price
Per Bushel. Since yields will
increase on land that has been
tiled, growers can factor in
their own numbers to see what
a 10-20 increase in yield will
do to their break-even cost of
production per bushel on
the farm.
20. Lower Machinery Costs.
With combines approaching
$300,000, it is nice to know that
tiled land allows growers to be in
the fields more days during the
whole crop season and harvest.
This allows growers to get more
done with less equipment and
farm it when the conditions are right.
Facts according to www.soilmax.com.
Winter 2013
| Insights Magazine | 15
Precision
Pioneers
Michigan family
advances farm
operation and sees
a greater return on
investment
16 | Insights Magazine | Winter 2013
“When we first started mapping using the SMS
software, our first thought was that we’d be able to
cut back on expenses. The greater benefit, though,
is being able to place nutrients where they are most
productive and most efficient so they provide the
greatest return on investment,” Hasenick says.
A
lot of things have
obviously changed since
DDennis Hasenick’s father
and uncle started Hasenick
Brothers Farms near Albion,
Michigan. Equipment size
has clearly increased, but
Dennis’s predecessors couldn’t
possibly have imagined that
satellites would someday
guide the family’s tractors and
combine through the field, or
automatically shut-off planter
rows and spray nozzles as the
machines came to point rows in
the rolling Michigan hills.
That’s indeed the picture,
though, as Hasenick and his
wife, Cindy, now farm around
5,000 acres of corn, soybeans,
wheat and alfalfa with their two
sons, Marc and Drew. Instead
of sighting in on a distant fence
post and following marker
tracks, as his father once did,
Hasenick now relies on his Ag
Leader InSightTM displays and
automatic steering systems
with RTK correction to plot
a straight line through the
field. At the same time, an
Ag Leader® Integra display
and ParaDyme® Automated
Steering System on his
Lexion® combine not only steer
the machine in wheat and
soybeans, but collect valuable
data in all three main crops,
which is then imported into
the family’s Ag Leader SMS™
software program.
“We bought our first yield
monitor back in the late 1990s,”
says Hasenick. “The first one
on the farm was an Ag Leader
Yield Monitor 2000. Of course,
we’ve had the SMS software
since we started using a yield
monitor. Today, we’re using
the SMS software-generated
maps to scrutinize a lot more
than just yields, though. All our
acres are now in management
The Hasenick brothers use their Ag Leader display year-round for planting, applying and
harvesting their 5,000 acres of corn, soybeans and wheat.
Winter 2013
| Insights Magazine | 17
“When you’re sitting in the middle of a 40-foot head,
you can’t tell from 20 feet away whether you’re
overlapping six inches or two feet,“ Hasenick says.
Dennis Hasenick, his wife Cindy and their sons Marc and Drew have been Ag Leader users since the late 1990s when
they bought an Ag Leader Yield Monitor 2000. A lot has changed since then.
zones, which are divided by
soil type and past production
history, so that we can compare
zones and make applications
and crop inputs based on those
zones,” he adds, noting that
they do their own variable-rate
applications of phosphate,
potash and lime.
“When we first started mapping
and using the SMS software,
our first thought was that
we would be able to cut back
on expenses,” Hasenick
continues. “And we have
been able to do that to some
extent. The greater benefit,
though, is being able to place
the nutrients where they are
18 | Insights Magazine | Winter 2013
the most productive and most
efficient so they provide the
greatest return on investment.
Of course, we’ve also seen a
benefit to the environment,
since we’re using fewer total
tons and putting it where it’s needed.”
Hasenick says he experiences
a lot less fatigue, too, since
he started using the InSight
display for satellite-assisted
steering. While two of the
tractors and the sprayer
operate on an RTK signal
via the InSight display, the
combine, with the Ag Leader
Integra display, operates
off a WAAS signal, since the
guidance doesn’t have to be as accurate.
“We do have a ParaDyme
steering system on the Lexion
combine, which we use when
we’re combining wheat or
soybeans,” he adds, noting that
he uses a 40-foot grain head
for those two crops. “And that
really helps; because when
you’re sitting in the middle of
a 40-foot head, you can’t tell
from 20 feet away whether
you’re overlapping six inches or
two feet.
“We have the Lexion row
feelers on the corn head to
guide the combine down the
“Today, we’re using
the SMS softwaregenerated maps
to scrutinize a lot
more than just
yields, though. All
our acres are now in
management zones,
which are divided by
soil type and past
production history, so that we can
compare zones and
make applications
and crop inputs based
on those zones,”
Hasenick says.
rows,” he adds. “So we actually
use those most of the time on
corn instead of the Ag Leader
guidance. But even then, the
nice thing about having the
Ag Leader Integra display
in the combine is it lets me
import all my hybrids and my
guidance lines from when I
planted so I can easily compare
the different hybrids as I go
through the field,” Hasenick
continues. “There are also the
little things, like being able to
find the guess rows, starting on
an established A-B line, etc.”
Hasenick says the Ag Leader
Integra display also allows
him to collect moisture level
in different areas of the field,
as well as field elevation, time
of day the area was harvested
and how fast the combine was
traveling — all of which can be
used to help analyze combine
performance, hybrid response
and crop inputs.
The combine hardly compares,
though, to the planter that
Hasenick and his Ag Leader
dealer put together about five
years ago.
“We basically took a brandnew 24-row John Deere®
corn planter and, before
we got done, we had
created a machine that
not only AutoSwathed and
variable-rated the seed, but
AutoSwathed and variablerated the 2 X 2 fertilizer. Our
in-furrow fertilizer also had
automatic shutoffs on the row
units. In fact, it may have been
the first planter of its type in
the area with all those different
capabilities,” he concludes.
The Hasenicks use SMS
software to review data
harvested with their crops.
Winter 2013
| Insights Magazine | 19
Reports from the Field
Taking custom application
to the next level
20 | Insights Magazine | Winter 2013
“With my Ag Leader Integra display and smartphone together,
I send my application reports to my customers via email before
ever leaving the field,” Deklotz says.
A
There’s
an App
for That?
fter making the last
anhydrous ammonia
application pass of the
field, Cole Deklotz disengages
the autosteer on his John
Deere 9630, lifts his 65-foot
toolbar out of the ground and
shifts into park.
“This is when the magic
happens,” Deklotz said.
Still in effort to be a gamechanger in the realm of
custom application, Deklotz
sourced a downloadable
mobile application for his
iPad® to view SMSTM.
After a few taps on the
touchscreen of his Ag Leader®
Integra display rigged with DirectCommand™, Deklotz then reaches for his smartphone.
“Voilà, email sent,” Deklotz said.
Deklotz’s is equipped with the most advanced
precision farming technology.
By generating application
reports from the Ag Leader
Integra display then attaching
the PDF document to an email
addressed to his customers,
Deklotz is taking custom
application to the next level.
Inside the cab of his 530
horsepower tractor, Deklotz
is equipped with the most
advanced Ag Leader precision
farming technology.
with three other custom
applicators with similar
equipment and technology,
applied more than 23,000 acres.
“With my Ag Leader Integra
display and smartphone
together, I send my application
reports to my customers via
email before ever leaving the
field,” Deklotz said.
“From my tractor seat, I am
able to do so much,” Deklotz
said. “This technology at
my fingertips saves time
and money while increasing
accuracy and productivity.”
Following an internship in
2005, Deklotz has worked as
a custom applicator for Linn Co-op in Newhall, Iowa.
Deklotz uses the array of
Ag Leader technology from
mapping, application control
and injection to real-time data
logging and camera inputs.
“This is more acres than
we have done ever before,”
Deklotz said. “No doubt
we have great equipment,
but much of our increased
productivity when applying can be attributed to the
technology we use in the cab of our tractors.”
“We are always looking for new
and innovative ways to please
our customers,” Deklotz said.
“Sending application reports
from the field is doing just that.
Plus, these reports provide
customer validation as to why
they chose our company for
custom application.”
“These features help me
get the job done and stay
connected to my clients,”
Deklotz said.
In an average fall, Deklotz
will cover about 9,000 acres.
In the fall of 2011, he, along
“Sure, I could pull out my
laptop to view my SMS
reports,” Deklotz said. “But,
that requires me to find an
internet connection and most
locations where I work, we
are lucky to have cell phone
service. So instead, I found an
application for my iPad that
allows me to remote connect
to my SMS software on the computer.”
Through research then some
trial and error, Deklotz uses
his SMS-configured iPad daily
without any hiccups.
Today, Linn Co-op applies for
a growing list of more than
270 clients.
“At the end of the day, what
matters most is customer
satisfaction,” Deklotz said.
“Our customers are more
satisfied when provided with
Ag Leader application reports
via email.”
Winter 2013
| Insights Magazine | 21
Short-Term Tenants
Long-Term Investment
“These progressive farming techniques and
implemented soil conservation efforts hold the
future of the family farm,” Berger says.
22 | Insights Magazine | Winter 2013
“The ground we work in our
farming operation is a finite
resource,” said Steve Berger.
“We are just short-term tenants
of the land and it is important
that we take care of what we have.”
Since the 1950s, the Berger
family has focused on soil conservation.
“My father, Dennis Berger,
has been very involved in soil
conservation since his start
in farming,” Berger said.
“Farmland is capital that
we want to protect and not
depreciate. Unfortunately, we
have lost a lot of potential from
the soil over time.”
In the Berger’s corn, soybean
and swine farm operation, a variety of farming practices are used to preserve
their farmland.
“Looking at the history of
soil conservation, a lot of
tenants are letting acres
of their soil erode,” Berger
said. “Specifically in Iowa and
much of the Midwest, we take
advantage of the rich soil.”
To offset soil degradation
from more than 150 years
of continuous farming, the
Wellman, Iowa, residents
no-till farm their corn and
soybean fields.
“We started no-tilling in 1979
initially to reduce soil erosion,”
Berger said. “Surface runoff from excess rainfall in
southeast Iowa on slopes had
to be controlled especially with
soybeans in the rotation.”
Over the course of time,
the Berger’s have also
implemented cover crops.
“One rule for our fields is to
always have the soil surface
covered with a growing crop
throughout the calendar
year,” Berger said. “A cover
crop helps add biomass to
rotational crops’ corn and
soybean residue. Also, a cover
crop adds roots that eventually
decay and create favorable
environments for microbes.”
Although there are several
cover crop options, the
Berger’s plant mostly cereal
rye because it adapts well to
Iowa growing conditions.
“With no-tillage and a cover
crop, we can really reduce
sediment loss,” Berger said.
“Improved soil and water
quality is good for everyone
from the farmer to the
neighbors downstream.”
In addition to no-till and cover
crop farming practices, the
Berger’s spend significant time
installing field drainage tile.
“Installing tile to lower
the water table sufficient
enough to allow for good
crop establishment is also
something we have done since
my father began farming,”
Berger said. “Of all the things
a growing crop will respond to,
internal drainage probably has
the greatest response.”
Over the course of time,
the Berger’s have made
advancements in tile drainage.
“We relied on custom operators
with trench machines for the
first 40 years of tiling,” Berger
said. “It wasn’t until 2002 that
we went away from a trench
machine and purchased a Soil-Max® Tile Plow.”
Typically, the Berger’s install
drainage systems with eightand ten-inch mains and use
four-inch laterals.
For additional speed and
accuracy, Steve added the
Intellislope™ to his tile plow in 2010.
“The ease of surveying a line
or system of lines improved
dramatically compared to using
a laser or physically surveying
a field with a level and stick,”
Berger said. “We can now
install tile almost instantly with
better accuracy compared to
taking several hours and days hand surveying.”
Berger said these progressive
farming techniques and
implemented soil conservation
efforts hold the future of the
family farm.
“Our family has had the
opportunity and privilege
to farm,” Berger said. “It
is important that we take
advantage of technology and
use it to improve the farmland
for future generations.”
Dennis and Steve Berger use their Soil-Max Tile Plow
to install drainage systems on their farm in Wellman, Iowa.
“Installing tile to lower the water table
sufficient enough to allow for good
crop establishment is also something
we have done since my father began
farming,” Berger says.
Winter 2013
| Insights Magazine | 23
Limits
are for
highways
and credit
cards
Not Precision Farming Displays
Why limit yourself to a specific
equipment brand or specific season
for your precision farming display?
The full-featured Ag Leader® Integra
and intuitive and economical VersaTM
displays do everything – guidance,
planting, application, harvest, water
management and more. View, control
and record all of your field operations
in real time from one intuitive display.
To find your local Ag Leader dealer visit
www.AgLeaderSpecialist.com
www.agleader.com
wwwagleader.com