What can farmers learn about combine settings from machines running in neighbouring fields or those harvesting wheat in fields over 8,000 miles away in Australia?
Agriculture technology company Combine Settings is set to launch an app that will allow farmers to share combine settings on a peer-to-peer platform and give them access to settings they can utilize for more successful harvesting in any combine in every field and crop condition imaginable around the globe.
The Saskatchewan-based start-up company drew plenty of interest at Agritechnica 23 from farmers and equipment manufacturers, retailers and dealers who see the app as means to share best practices with combine operators.
In this interview with RealAgriculture’s Shaun Haney, Megan Madden, with Combine Settings, shares how farmers can log into the app, load their combine make and model and all their settings — from fan speeds to concaves — select from a range of crops and harvesting conditions and publish their information in the app. Madden says farmers can then search for “settings relevant to their own combine and model and they can see what everyone else around the world is using.” (Story continues after the video.)
Madden says incorrect settings cause farmers to throw thousands of dollars out the back of the combine every year. One of the key metrics is to measure yield loss in bushels.
Using the app, farmers will be able to learn from operators running the same combine anywhere in their province or in another company. “We have the global aspect where you can look up the same model, crops, conditions from Australia, from Germany or from South Africa,” says Madden. “In our next phase, we’re launching a mapping function where you’ll be able to search geographically — within five miles to see my neighbours — or within 100 miles and I can see what’s happening around the province.”
The app is essentially combine agnostic — it includes all colours and makes of combine, from Gleaner to John Deere. Madden notes that a beta version of the app is currently being tested with 400 to 500 farmers participating and registered within the platform. She expects a subscription service to be launched in the near future.
RealAgriculture’s coverage of Agritechnica is brought to you by Optimum Gly, a new canola trait technology from Corteva Agriscience.
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