Not just with the farm, but any type of gadget or tech, I always want the newest and the best. Since I worked off the farm for six years I think I can look at our operation from somewhat of an outsider’s perspective. Maybe the most valuable thing I learned working away from the farm is that “Because we’ve always done it that way” is not usually the best answer to “Why do you do this this way?” So that makes me always want to find a better and/or more profitable way to do something.
Given unlimited time, resources, and of course, good weather what would I do immediately to change the way we farm? Well maybe some drain tile, get into vertical tillage, do our own spraying, install grain bin monitors that run the aeration and talk to my phone, put more cameras on more equipment, variable rate everything which means I can start making prescription applications for seed and fertilizer on the computer, which means we should take a look at how we take soil samples, which is probably just an excuse to buy an ATV (better make that a 4 seat utility vehicle), and now I see John Deere can have the grain cart and combine link up in the field and unload on the go all hands free and all we need is another monitor for a few grand.
It doesn’t help that I’ve been reading farm magazines all night. And they’re telling me I need the extension agent to come out and dig a soil pit so he can show me in depth how well our soil and root structure is doing. I guess I’ll just settle for the talk Dad and I had while locking up the shop for the day about me thinking we really need to have GPS actuated clutches for every row on the planter which slightly progressed toward maybe spring 2012 could bring a whole new planter. But wait, do we stay with boxes or go back to central fill and what about individual controls for the row cleaners and down pressure?
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So what exactly is your dad’s feelings regarding a move towards more technology? Has he shown an opinioni either way? Or, is he vague about what direction he would like to go. I could see where some farmers would be hesitant to front the initial investment of these upgrades eventhough there could be savings (time and manpower) in the long run. I think it would be interesting to travel around to other farms and see how 2nd and 3rd generation farmers are reacting to a technological puch from the younger generations.
He’s not opposed to new stuff, but I tend to drop little hints here and there on things I think would be good for us. I guess you could say I was kind of the catalyst that pushed us into GPS when I came back home, although dad and grandpa were already thinking about it. I also try to remember he’s been doing this longer than I’ve been alive. Autosteer seems to be pretty prevalent in our area if you look around during the spring and fall just about everyone has that little dome on top of their tractors. A lot of this GPS based stuff pays for itself within 5 years. My big thing right now would be the auto row shutoffs for the planter. I watch the yield monitor closely when I’m going through overlapping rows in the fall and I see 25% or more yield bumps there, but I put in twice as much seed. When we’re talking about a bag of corn getting up to $500 or more for stacked traits that adds up pretty quick, and it will make your harvest more efficient.