Interesting article

[Too many Kubotas]

Had a solenoid give up in the M936's power control box.

Before:

After:

Result: It all still works, without the electronic wizardry.

 

[TerryR]

Whether seeding, spraying, or fertilizing eliminating overlap saves money. A GPS controlled machine can cut overlap on the ends down to virtually zero where a manually controlled machine will have to overlap by a foot at the very least to eliminate misses.

Perhaps more significantly, it can vary the amount of seed, fertilizer, and pesticide in various parts of the field depending on the fertility of each area. So less waste trying to grow more crop in areas which can't produce as well as other areas.

 

[Jstpssng]

Someday I am going out to see those big wheat fields which I've heard about all of my life, and that some of you talk about.
It must be almost like looking out across the ocean.

 

[jyoutz]

Someday I am going out to see those big wheat fields which I've heard about all of my life, and that some of you talk about.
It must be almost like looking out across the ocean.

Yep and some of the most scenically impressive wheat fields are in the Palouse region of eastern Washington and Oregon. Because the fields undulate with the hilly terrain.

 

[Paystar]

Well my dealership owners said it best the other day when I was there picking up my RTV. They are a Kubota and John Deere dealer, and they said most of their Deere business is parts and service because despite there being lots of farms around here, no one is buying new half million dollar plus machines here.

 

[perfdoc]

HA HA HA HA.

When can farmers go BACK to reliable tractors and farming! Dump those computerized gadgets of demon-possession. These new tractors have more electrical wire bundles than my early 2000s truck.

Tractors need to be following the KISS principles. A useful machine, not some broken Cadillac behemoth out in some field stuck in electronic hell of limp mode the dealers tried to fix 8 or 9 times.

Ha Ha Ha have you tried farming thousands of acres in the dark. Yeah, we didn’t think so.

 

[RayIN]

Next you will be telling us that you don't need the ability to look in your frig while you're at work!!!
How do you know that your ketchup isn't getting it on with the mustard?

The old farmers (1940's-1950's) said you can get more in a crooked row.

 

[oldnslo]

Ha Ha Ha have you tried farming thousands of acres in the dark. Yeah, we didn’t think so.

Not thousands of acres but I have tilled and planted hundreds of acres in the dark without GPS and technology today. Huge difference was equipment was 18 ft wide field cultivator and 4 row planter and largest tractor was 85 HP vs what using today which is 48 ft field cultivator and 24 row planter. Field cultivator frequently can’t see ends through the dust nor previous pass so GPS is semi required to run especially after dark but still have run when GPS didn’t work.

Planter has markers so can also run that without GPS but agree does cause more eye strain and fatigue

Another big change is speed of equipment going through the field 40 - 50 years ago 4 - 5 MPH was considered top speed for planting and most tillage. Today planters and some types of tillage are operating at twice that speed or faster so a slight steering is a lot more noticeable.

The huge elephant in the room is cost of GPS guidance per vehicle and how many vehicles do you need it on? For someone running 500 or 600 acres it may not be cost effective to have GPS on two or three tractors plus combine.

 

[bmaverick]

Ha Ha Ha have you tried farming thousands of acres in the dark. Yeah, we didn’t think so.

My neighbor does to the south of me with a 1980's CASE. No GPS or anything like that.

Asche Farms Pecatonica, IL

Asche Farms is a family owned grain and livestock farm located in Northern Illinois. Together we raise Bison, Beef Cattle, and Hogs.

aschefarms.wixsite.com

 

[Everhard]

I have to chuckle at reading all the complaints about computers (technology) running everything... but then without them we would have to gather around a round bale to have this same conversation and we couldn't be from 4 corners of the globe!