Talking about control technologies: an introduction to precision steering

And it’s not just vanity that motivates professional farmers to aim for straight rows, repeated year on year. Accuracy saves time and money (by reducing wasted inputs such as seed, fertilizer, herbicide or fuel), and can improve the quality of your crop (by reducing soil compaction as well as ‘skipped’ areas that miss out on the right seed, herbicide or fertilizer application). 

Farmers around the world have been increasingly implementing precision farming techniques since Case IH first introduced its Advanced Farming Systems (AFS®) in 1995, realising it gave them a level of control in an otherwise unpredictable & uncertain livelihood.

One of the simplest ways to improve productivity and reduce input costs is to implement some kind of precision steering technology. In other words, embracing technology to take care of steering your machinery while it’s working in the field.

First, let’s look at 3 main benefits of this technology:

“Skipped” areas in a field mean the parts of the field where soil preparation, planting, crop protection or fertiliser application, or even harvesting have been missed. This can happen when a tractor or harvester driver steers even slightly crookedly – even a marginally different angle compared with the adjacent row can have a huge impact over a large field. It can be even worse at row ends, as it’s hard for even the most skilled operator to get the perfect turning circle, especially with wide machinery or implements. Add in rolling hills or bumpy terrain, and it’s almost impossible for operators to steer accurately. For each area that is missed, it’s an area where the crop may not grow to its full potential. 

The opposite of a skip is an “overlap”. This is an area of the field that has been passed over more than once, requiring more seed, crop protection or fertiliser, and even more fuel than should be required if the field area was passed over perfectly once. In addition to wastage, having too many seeds, or too much chemical applied could also have a negative impact on plant growth, and the inaccuracy also increases the amount of compacted soil, which can also limit yield potential.

When the machine you are driving can be trusted to cover the field accurately in a single pass, the operator can concentrate on other functions (such as monitoring seeding depth), and can often operate at a faster speed, especially at row ends where efficient turning can save a lot of time on a large farm. This significantly reduces operator fatigue and gives you more hours in the day—and that equates to money when you factor in labour costs, or the risk of lost time or harvest quality if you’re trying to beat the incoming storm. 

Reducing skips and overlaps, and the time required to work in your fields effectively enables you to get more out of the land—and the time—you’ve got.