Are you getting ready for this year’s harvest but unsure if you are going to make any yield mapping errors? As you begin to undergo the planting process is it essential that you take the necessary precautions to ensure your harvest remains on pace. Nobody wants to have a harvest that did not account for skips or was ruined because of continuous seed misplacement. Therefore, before you begin planting, our farming equipment repair shop recommends inspecting your equipment to make sure it is running effectively. For example, research shows that having too much or not enough downforce will lead to a decreased yield as well as too much compaction could restrict root growth while less pressure could not position the seed at the ideal depth.
It is best to let the professionals repair this technology to achieve professional results. We outlined the most common errors for your yield mapping below to give you a better idea of what to be looking out for as well as ways to care for it. The more you can familiarize yourself with these errors, the more accurate your planting will be which saves you time and money.
Header Position Sensor Errors
This stems from not having an initial accurate prediction on what your harvest will yield in a given area. When the platform header is not being operated at full capacity and the settings do not reflect this in the yield monitor, it will lead to an underestimation of the yield.
Worn Disc Openers
Disc openers create the hole that the seed can be placed in. When the disc encounters the inevitable wear and tear it needs to be replaced. If not replaced, the seed tube guard will receive damage.
Row to Row Depth Variation
Even if you set each row unit to the same depth setting, it still does not mean all the seeds will be planted at the same depth. This is because differences in manufacturing and wear will cause depth variation by row. The only way to truly know this is by measuring it yourself. The best way to keep the depth as consistent as possible is to replace worn parts and adjust the height on each row.
Gap In Gauge Wheel Arms
Your gauge wheel arms are responsible for depth in your planting process. When there is a gap in between the wheels and opening discs, it can let dry soil back into the process. To prevent this gap from happening, make sure your wheel arms slightly scrub the wheel openers to keep dry soil out as well as prevent germination.
Cleaning yield data post-processing
This comes after the harvest and is essential after every planting process. Because even if grain yield monitor calibration, adjustments, and operation are done effectively, cleaning the data from the harvest is needed to remove outliers from the data set. This will require edits to the settings to better identify the spatial accuracy of the yield data points. This will improve the processing of the data and lead to a more accurate harvest.
Premier yield mapping is essential to save both time and money during your planting process. Although you can repair some of these errors by yourself, come see one of our yield mapping experts to ensure you have a record harvest this year!