docImplementing Technology at the Purdue Ag Centers
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Implementing Technology at the Purdue Ag Centers
Introduction Nate Linder Meigs Operations Specialist The MHF is part of the Throckmorton Purdue Ag Center (TPAC). Schedule and manage day-to-day field and plot activities at the Meigs Horticultural Facility (MHF) Purdue Ag Centers Farm Overview Throckmorton Purdue Ag Center + 830 managed acres 567 tillable acres Rolling silt loam soils at TPAC and Meigs with Meigs having more variation 2 active manmade wetlands at MHF 20 acres of timber used for forestry research Farm Overview cont. Throckmorton Purdue Ag Center Crops Processing Facility on site with 2 walk-in coolers for produce and plant material 5 full-time employees Superintendent Meigs Operations Specialist Specialty Crops Specialist (2) Service staff The Research 152 Field Trials in 2012 101 agronomic trials 41 fruit and vegetable trials (includes organic and high tunnels) 8 biofuel/environmental trials 2 forestry trials 38 Principle Investigators from 6 Departments, Extension, USDA and Industry Agriculture and Biological Engineering (4) Agronomy (10) Botany and Plant Pathology (5) Entomology (5) Forestry (2) Horticulture and Landscape Management (8) Purdue Extension (1) USDA (2) Ag Industry (1) Meigs Horticultural Facility Location for all Horticulture research 16 – 8.2 ac. fields 1 – organic research 1 – 6.83 ac. field certified organic 151 ac. set up for drip and overhead irrigation 6 high tunnels 18.5 ac. Apple Trees 4 ac Wine Grapes 3011 Trees 1350 vines Peaches, Pears, Cherries, Brambles, Ornamentals 16 ac. Each year dedicated to fruit and veg. row crops 4 year rotation Presentation Topics Efficiency in Fruit & Vegetable Production Soil Sampling & GPS at TPAC TPAC equipment with GPS NH 8770 w/ RTK Autopilot, Field-IQ tillage operations, bean drill JD 4250 w/ RTK Autopilot, Field-IQ corn planter, 28% applicator JD 5210 w/ RTK EZpilot vegetable plot layout, tillage, fertilizer applications, Drip Tape Installation JD 6400 w/ Autopilot, Field-IQ raised vegetable beds, transplanter, Pesticide Application, Pre-plant liquid N Miller Nitro 4215 w/ RTK light bar, Field-IQ agronomic/horticulture sprays Case IH 5088 combine w/ RTK Autopilot, Yield Monitoring bulk and plot harvests AgGPS 542 GNSS receiver Trimble NavII Controller FmX® Integrated Display Autopilot™ Automated Steering Nomad® Field-IQ TPAC equipment with GPS 2013 Upgrades planned: Change JD 5210 from Ezsteer to RTK Auto pilot, Field IQ Add RTK Autopilot and Field-IQ to Kubota RTV900 for soil sampling and vegetable plot work AgGPS 542 GNSS receiver Trimble NavII Controller Add Autopilot to Miller Nitro TPAC investment in precision Ag equipment: $95,649.50 FmX® Integrated Display Autopilot™ Automated Steering Nomad® Efficiency in Fruit & Vegetable Production How are we utilizing the Autopilot RTK technology at MHF? RTK signal (<1” accuracy) CenterPoint™ RTK Other Signals: Centerpoint VRS (< 1” accuracy) Centerpoint RTX (1.5” accuracy) Bed maker Tillage/Cultivation Planting Laying subsurface irrigation Fertilizer Application Orchard/Vineyard plot marker Rawson Drive Soil Sampling Bed Maker & RTK No flagging required in the absence of markers Produces exact row spacing Crucial for directed spray applications and cultivation Can easily adjust row spacing or put in drive alleys Gives driver opportunity to watch the bed maker Tillage/Cultivation & RTK No overlap from pass to pass Useful in tillage treatment plots No unintended bed damage with cultivator Reduces damage to row crops with cultivator Saves time, fuel, etc. Doesn’t destroy plot data Very useful in strip-tillage situations Reduces operator fatigue in large fields Planting & RTK Puts transplants in center of bed No “snaking” Allows driver to watch riders No flagging required in bare ground situations Very useful in randomized row crop plots Maintains consistent “guess row “ width with row crop planters Important for post-emerge cultivation Subsurface Irrigation & RTK No flagging required for plot/row centers Allows for better use of labor Changing spacing across the field is simple Did I mention no flagging Fertilizer Application & RTK Achieve uniform coverage passto-pass Use in conjunction with a Rawson drive for VRT applications Quickly change between treatment rates No flagging required in randomized plots Driver can watch applicator performance Orchard/vineyard plot marker & RTK Uses a “Remote Output” feature on the FMX Electric solenoid triggers paint can Paints a dot on the ground at each tree location Eliminates the need to mark each tree location with a stake or flag Allows for better use of labor Rawson Drive & RTK Use with Field-IQ on display Quickly change between rates Use VRT shapefile prescription maps No sprocket changes required Increase efficiency Reduces input quantities Applications Planters Drills Air Seeders Piston Pumps Strip Till Soil Sampling at TPAC How we used to do it… ATV and trusty soil probes Use soil type maps of fields on a clipboard 2 employees 3.5 – 4 minutes/sample Probe, bag, tag sample = 10 probes /location Soil Sampling at TPAC How we do it now… ATV and hydraulic soil probe Guided by maps created with GPS software 1 employee 1.5 – 2 minutes/sample Probe, bag, tag Creating Sample Maps Import soil type maps… USDA/NRCS web soil survey website Creating Sample Maps Make sampling grid… Grid size can vary Creating Sample Maps Add the sample points in each grid square… Define each point with a number 1,2,3,4… Creating Sample Maps Put the sample points layer on top of the soils layer… Adjust location of points if needed Creating Sample Maps Create a Trimble guidance line layer… Connect the points from 1 to ? Creating Sample Maps Import soil sample data from the lab into Farmworks Software uses defined data to generate VRT maps “Cows are much less complicated and a multipurpose machine!! Harvest, grow and fertilize in one pass. No GPS or operator required!” Questions?
