Latest issue now online: Let’s automate machines more!

Our cover story is a major theme where major steps have been taken by most manufacturers in the past year, automating combine harvesting technology. It seems that manufacturers are automating everything so far that the (next) step towards complete robotisation is only a small one left to do…. Future Farming sets out all innovations per manufacturer and describes the trends.

Auto steering and speed control relieve the combine operator – aboard a New Holland CR10.90 Revelation in this instance – of basic tasks that allow more time to be spent perfecting settings for output and sample quality.

Also we feature a worldwide overview of the most important “Precision Farming agri-tech startups” that have won big prizes and have received substantial investments.

The TerraSentia robot from EarthSense is designed to survey crops for phenotyping to help gather data for variety breeding programmes. Photo: EarthSense

And what about this? We feature articles which prove that using drones and N-sensors are the easiest way of optimising crops towards more uniformity. Also remarkable is the article that shows that you achieve amazing yield improvements by tackling the cultivation of grass in an arable-way. And what about much better spraying results by injecting CO2 and magnetising spray liquids?

Stationary N-sensors are used to monitor grass growth. The data is used for crosschecks and for developing crop growth models. The two lower sensors with crop sensor and weather stations, are tested for American startup Arable. Photo: René Koerhuis

Finally, a report from a large French contract worker who deliberately chooses to invest in machines, tractors and self-propelled (harvesting) machines of one brand, because the resulting data advantage is much greater than all other factors. This is an interesting development, because it shows that whoever has a perfect data-exchange between machines, tractors, self-propelled (harvest)equipment and the business administration, has probably the best cards to sell among professional farmers and contractors.

When buying technology, Pierre-Henri first sets out to look for it in his home province Brittany like these Mauguin Citagri slurry tanks of which he runs seven. Two of these can be equipped with the HarvestLab NIR-sensor for qualitative slurry analysis. Photo: René Koerhuis