GrainsWest Fall 2019

Tech 2019 Grains West 32 DOT Technology encourages fellow equipment manufacturers to work in partnership with it to create DOT-ready equipment. A number have complied. Available implements now include an air seeder, a sprayer, a land roller and the DOT Ready Autonomous Dry Spreader created in collaboration with New Leader Manufacturing. Saskatchewan-based Pattison Liquid Systems and sister company Connect also partnered with DOT Technology Corporation, recently bringing the DOT-ready Connect PLU S120 Sprayer to market. The unit features automatic height control, individual nozzle control and turn compensation, which together ensure product coverage is consistent across the width of its boom. DOT’s lack of a cab has been translated into additional capacity for the Connect sprayer, which is equipped with a 6,075-litre tank. It also features a continuous boom with two lines, whereas most sprayers feature just one. Product is constantly circulated and returned to the tank, maintaining even pressure across the boom and making rinsing easier when the job is done. The sprayer also has a unique rinse system. Given the system’s accuracy, it can be loaded with the exact amount of product required for the job. When the sprayer completes its task, it goes into auto-rinse mode, spraying the remaining diluted product on the field. Pattison Liquid Systems president Rick Pattison said the sprayer addresses a number of pressing challenges faced by farmers, including the prevailing labour shortage. “Trying to find people to put in the glass cage on the tractor all day long is not easy,” he said. As well, the units are less likely to make mistakes. “An autonomous unit doesn’t have any emotions,” said Pattison. “It just does its job.” At 13 to 16 kilometres per hour, the combination moves more slowly than most sprayers, but Pattison said this improves its efficacy by reducing drift and overlap. Further benefits include diminished soil compaction as the sprayer weighs roughly 7,300 kilograms less than a comparable high-clearance model and the DOT unit and sprayer together cost about 25 per cent less. “It’s always exciting to do something that nobody else is doing,” said Pattison. “People do look at you kind of strange sometimes, but I can guarantee that autonomous farming will be commonplace in the next five years.” DE-STRESSING COMBINE OPERATION During harvest, moisture conditions can vary throughout the day and as the weather fluctuates. This in turn alters the threshing, separation and cleaning of the crop. An experienced operator can make manual adjustments to compensate, but where skilled labour is scarce, judgement errors can impact effectiveness. To maximize performance on its S700 series combines, John Deere introduced the Combine Advisor package, which is a combination of seven technologies that help operators set, optimize and automate the combine based on crop and field conditions. With support from ActiveVision cameras, the unit’s auto-maintain function allows the operator to view the tailings and clean grain elevators while it analyzes the imagery to maintain optimal threshing performance. The system protects harvest quality by responding automatically to harvest conditions as they change throughout the day, explained Matt Badding, John Deere’s international sales manager. The cameras capture images of clean and return grain every couple of seconds, and the system analyzes the condition and quality of each. Pairing this information with data from the combine’s loss sensors, it makes adjustments to five key settings. These include concave clearance, rotor and FEATURE The John Deere Combine Advisor auto-maintain function responds automatically to harvest conditions.