Global collaboration: empowering combine harvester operators worldwide

One of the biggest problems associated with crop production is running a combine harvester that is not working as it was designed due to being set up incorrectly for current harvesting conditions. Grain loss, grain damage, excess fuel use, and even machine damage, can occur if the settings on the combine, for a particular crop, are not set up properly.

It’s a common problem around the world when operators, maybe not so familiar to the combine, don’t know which settings should be used. Help is now at the touch of a button for those operators, farmers and contractors to ensure they get the settings right and proceed with higher harvesting efficiency.

A unique new online portal at www.combinesettings.com is now available to guide combine operators to the correct settings, thanks to the input from other operators.

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^{Settings for combines have been inputted by operators around the world.}

Peer to peer platform

The brainwave is down to Saskatchewan crop farmer, Trevor Scherman, who came up with the idea, with company co-founder Megan Madden, also raised on a farm in the region. “Basically, combinesettings.com is a peer to peer platform for farmers to share verified combine settings globally for any combine, any crop, anywhere,” Megan said.

“Trevor previously invented the Schergain harvest loss device and saw many of his customers come back to him after they found out how much grain they were losing. They were keen to find out how to set their combine to mitigate their losses. He came up with the idea of connecting everyone online, and together we developed the combinesettings.com platform as it is today.”

Fast take off

Following the development in 2022, and a bit of tweaking, the duo, plus Trevor’s wife Michelle who is a partner and company CFO, took their technology to their first show to introduce it to the public. Little did they know how fast it would take off.

Megan said: “We softly launched combinesettings.com at the Ag in Motion show in Saskatchewan in July of 2022. At this event we won the Ag Innovation Award, which really spiralled us on a rocket ship to growth that we hadn’t expected. “From there we were invited to Agritechnica 2023 in Germany, had outreach from accelerator programs, received a partnership offer from Australia and so much more that catapulted us years ahead in our business plan.”

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^{Harvest efficiency is increased when the correct combine settings are used. – Photo Marc Pasveer.}

Bigger reach

Combinesettings.com is designed by farmers for farmers, but it has now got a bigger reach as well, with potentially lucrative partnerships brewing on the horizon. Megan said: “Our initial iteration of the site is currently built with farmers only in mind. That being said, our next stage of development is a white label OEM, dealer, retailer programme so those companies can purchase subscriptions for their own farmer customers and give them access as a benefit to buying a combine.

“Currently our beta testers are primarily north American and German but once we release the full version of the site, it will be available globally and have users from all agriculture regions of the world.

“Right now all users are on a free trial as we work through beta testing and gathering feedback. Going forward, users will have the option of a limited use free account, or a CAN$ 199 equivalent annual subscription. And only one sub is needed per farm as you can add unlimited combines to one farm account.”

More efficient combine operation

Combine users all over the world simply enter the settings they found works the best for the particular machine they are driving and in which specific crop. Other users then tap into those settings to make their own combining operation more efficient.

Megan added: “There will be many more technological advantages for users subscribing to the paid account. Searching will be more advanced and the ability to comment, ask questions, chat with other posters, vote for settings, and more will only be available to premium account holders.

Our system saves combine operators time and puts more grain in the bin

“Our system saves combine operators time and puts more grain in the bin. They don’t have to make endless phone calls to different techs and neighbours, no more posting on facebook groups and sifting through armchair expert answers.”

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^{Combine users simply open the website and search for the combine they are using to obtain the settings.}

Verified data

“Combinesettings.com allows operators to get the settings they need immediately, as recommended by other farmers who have the same combine, crops, and conditions. Or access the technical experts from those who made or service your combine as well.”

“All our settings comes from user verified data as input by farmers or experts. It doesn’t have the extra steps of trying to integrate OEM hardware or software. It’s simply inputting a few settings.”

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^{Megan Madden, co-founder combinesettings.com, at the stand during Agritechnica. – Photo: combinesettings.com}

Future plans

The team do have some exciting plans for future development of the portal and the company, some of which is in advanced stages.

Megan said: “Since our initial version, we have already added mapping functionality and are currently feeding data into our custom AI GPT for it to be able to read setting input both from the app, and other input sources to be able to make learned recommendations as well. The future plans beyond that are still secret!”

The company encourages farmers to use the system and to send them feedback on how their experience went. They emphasise that all future developments will depend greatly on user feedback as it is a system “designed for farmers by farmers!”

Modern tech

The team says their new platform will also be useful on modern combines that are also equipped with software from the manufacturer. These combines often receive regular updates from the manufacturer or may even be controlled by AI to optimise combine settings automatically. Megan said: “Even the combines that are auto setting often need adjustment as crop and harvesting conditions change.”

“However, we are currently focusing on helping the segment of growers who are not buying brand new equipment and are currently not receiving adequate help setting their combines from the dealers or manufacturers due to resourcing. Our goal is to help dealers and manufacturers to support these growers that don’t currently have the newest technology, but are still important customers.”

“Our goal in the future would be to help dealers and manufacturers with settings as we will have a large database of real world settings that will help their Ai models.”