GrainsWest Tech 2020

Tech 2020 Grains West 34 This allowed Concentric to distribute the NutriScan system. NutriScan is a hand-held device that uses AgroCares sensor technology. It collects real-time soil nutrient data and provides crop advisors, agronomists and researchers with complete soil nutrient analysis plus recommendations. The results are sent to the user’s smartphone within just 10 minutes. “Soil analytics is an integral part of our long-term business plan,” said Jarrett Chambers, Concentric executive vice-president and chief commercial officer. “We believe NutriScan’s real- time diagnostic tool will further help Concentric’s growers apply the correct nutrients to maximize the genetic potential of their crops.” The scanner offers users several benefits. It allows them to instantly check soil quality when deliberating on the purchase of new land. It also allows them to quickly determine which fields are best suited to which crops. It enables farmers and agronomists to monitor fertility developments throughout the growing season and empowers them to make fertility decisions that could sustainably improve soil health, while increasing yields. NutriScan measures nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium, pH, cation- exchange capacity, soil organic matter, macronutrients such as zinc, boron and copper, and intermediary nutrients such as calcium, magnesium and sulfur. NutriScan’s most notable feature is its response time. “For no extra charge, it allows you to break out your production sites into different zones,” said Chambers. Additional benefits include ease of use. Last year, Concentric invested nearly $250,000 to set up a third-party lab to help with calibration of the analytical equipment in Canada. It is Concentric’s aim to distribute the product only, while a partner company will run the lab. NutriScan will be commercially available in the fall of 2020. The total cost of the package is $5,000 for the unit, plus an annual subscription fee of $5,000 for the complete package. Lighter subscription packages may also be available. Ultimately, the unit is designed for users who do more than 100 soil samples per year, said Chambers. FIND THE SWEET SPOT Taking yield mapping to the next level, Australian tech company Next Instruments has developed CropScan 3300H, an on-combine grain analyzer. The CropScan kit includes a NIR analyzer, a remote sampling head and a touchscreen display. Every six to 12 seconds, it measures protein, oil, starch, fibre and moisture as grain is harvested. The device provides farmers with real- time field maps and allows them to segregate and store grain by quality. CropScan also includes grain logistics software with blending estimation to help optimize crop payments. Certain farmers will use it to segregate grain after harvest, while others will blend it to take their grain to a higher grade, said Next Instruments marketing manager Victoria Clancy. Others use the data to make protein maps they overlay with yield maps from the combine. They use these maps to further enhance variable rate strategies. “For wheat and barley, optimum protein is between 11 and 12 per cent. If you don’t reach that 11 to 12 per cent, you’ve actually limited the yield that crop is producing,” said Clancey. “In order to maximize the yield that crop is producing, you actually have to make sure that you’re reaching a certain protein level.” Farmers aren’t just using CropScan to measure quality. “We’ve got farmers who are using the protein information for their variable rate applications and AgroCares NutriScan is another real-time scanning device that collects soil nutrient data. Photo:CourtesyofAgroCare FEATURE