Autosteer 101

Since we're having a couple Indian Summer days in December, I'm able to get a couple more days of fieldwork in before our weather switches to deep freeze mode for the next few months and the ground freezes. Today I'm strip-tilling, which essentially means I'm preparing the seedbed for planting next spring by tilling up a narrow strip of soil. This operation allows us to reap the benefits of both a no-till system (reduced soil erosion, better moisture retention) and a conventional tillage system (easier planting, warmer soil in the spring). I'll explain those systems in greater detail in a future post.

How does this relate to technology? This operation is nearly impossible to use effectively without GPS autosteer. My tractor is driving itself on a line that is infinitely repeatable, meaning that all of my passes through the field are perfectly straight and parallel. It also means that the planter will be able to plant exactly in the narrow strip that I've tilled. Farmers are good at driving straight, but not as good as a computer being guided by a dozen satellites.

The tractor is able to follow the predetermined line with the use of an RTK (Real Time Kinetimatics) GPS signal. This signal means that we will be within an inch of where the tractor is supposed to be. By contrast, your gps navigation device uses a WAAS signal that is accurate to within a few meters. It's the difference between knowing which road you're on and knowing where the device is on the dashboard.

I'll post a video later of the strip-tilling in progress to give a better look at what it's like. And to show how the gps interface looks like a game of John Deere Light Cycle.

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