It’s like Christmas eve in the corn belt. Harvest is just a week or two away in some areas, and for some it may have already started. Reaping what you have sown can be the most joyful part of farming. Although taking the time to make sure equipment is calibrated and data is being logged properly can be a pain, it is WORTH it.
Francis Beck said it best, “What you measure tends to improve.” Making sure your operation has accurate data to measure is a key part of farming. Whether you have the most recent monitors and sensors to measure yield on a monitor, or if you are going off how many trucks you loaded per field, measuring and recording that data matters!
FARMserver has the ability to record BOTH of these options. If you are measuring production based on notes of how many loads leave the field, FARMserver can record those notes for you in a manual even form. Select the crop type, event type, and notes about that event so you can recall those thoughts weeks, months, years later.
If you are capturing yield data with a monitor, FARMserver has the ability to read in all monitor brands and models so you can see your data spatially on a map and measure what happened where. A tool that is unique to FARMserver is the ROI calculator that will show you what farms and fields return on investment numbers were that year based on your input costs. It will take it one step further if you have spatial yield data from a monitor to show you WHERE in the field you were making money and where you were not breaking even. Again, this tool is able to be used for the operation with or without monitor data.
Another tool that is powerful and easy to use in FARMserver is the query tool. Using this tool, you can isolate specific spots in the field and measure yield. While this tool is only for operations with actual spatial data, it is one of the most powerful tools we have to make sure we can control the many variables we have on any given field and truly compare apples to apples. These spots can have product splits, application differences, soil type changes, or any other variable you think is worth isolating. It will show you what the bushels and moisture were in the exact area you draw and isolate.
Data needs to be accurately collected, then we are able to put that data into FARMserver and turn it into information. Without this step, data only tells us part of the story. FARMserver will allow that data to be investigated and give you the real truth about what is going on in your fields. This kind of information can drive business decisions for the years to come. Precision ag has been around for decades. Allowing this data to drive ROI based decisions is what we at Beck’s believe farmers need and we are here to help. Take some time to talk with your local dealer, Seed Advisor or FARMserver representative before harvest to make sure you are ready to capture the most accurate data for your operation to make the best business decisions you can for the upcoming season ahead.
Zach Christianson | Regional Precision Technology Specialist