GrainsWest Tech 2020

Tech 2020 grainswest.com 35 have levelled out the yield variability across their farm by about 40 per cent,” she said. “Especially if it’s a drought year or it’s weather-affected, having farmers that are above the average for the yield and the quality in their region based on using the protein information. You know, that’s all extra money that they’re making.” Alberta-based independent crop advisor Steve Larocque bought a CropScan 3300H unit in 2016. Larocque manages more than 30,000 acres of cropland and planned to use the device as a research tool to better understand nitrogen mineralization rates. He also wanted to understand protein and how it varies spatially across a field. While it worked well in the first year, he said he had water issues in 2017 and 2018. “They’re built in Australia,” he said. “I don’t think they were used to Canadian winters and snow melts.” Next Instruments sent Larocque another model, a sealed unit with one motor instead of two, so he was able to collect data again in 2019. While Next Instruments promotes the scanner as a device for segregating grain, Larocque bags most of his, which makes segregation challenging. “If you’re set up to segregate grain, that’s great,” he said. “I think it’s totally doable.” He still thinks the math on grain segregation is tricky, though. “What is the value … if you can elevate the whole average to 13.5 per cent protein versus segregating off a certain percentage of, let’s say, 15.5 per cent protein?” he said. “Are you better off? That’s the math I haven’t been able to do.” Larocque won’t know which fields, if any, are consistently high protein grain producers until after this year’s harvest, as his four-year rotation cycle will begin again this year. What he really wants to do, though, is to hone in on his nitrogen fertilization rates in order to better understand where he’s getting greater mineralization. He’ll then compare that data to conditions the crop was grown under in order to see which biological, chemical or structural parameters generate higher protein. He also wants to know if there are any correlations between pH, electric conductivity, nutrients or protein. “It’s a tool to help fine tune your zones, your yield potential inside of each zone, and your proteins, which is ultimately a reflection of your mineralization rates,” said Larocque. “At the end of the day, the whole trick is to get high yield and high protein, and the two rarely meet. So, where is the sweet spot, right? CropScan will lead you to it because you’re logging yield and you’re logging protein at the same time.” An on-combine grain analyzer, the CropScan 3300Hmeasures protien, oil, starch, fibre andmoisture content on the go. Photo:CourtesyofNext Instruments