Precision technology has revolutionised farming during the past few decades – from its origins as simple location guidance to now wirelessly synchronised fleets. CPM explores how John Deere’s StarFire has allowed one farmer to reach new heights of productivity.
“We’re innovating to make the technology accessible to everyone.” – CHRIS WILTSHIRE
By Melanie Jenkins
Arguably one of the most valued, consistently in-demand technological features available for tractors, John Deere’s StarFire has, in one iteration or another, been present on Andrew Melton’s farm since the turn of the century.
Fourth generation farmer Andrew and his father Clive purchased the tenanted farm in the early 2000s. Alongside his son, Sam, Andrew now owns 650ha at Peartree Farm, Cambridgeshire and contract farms another 650ha across five holdings. Growing largely combinable crops, he also has a small area of sugar beet both on the home farm and across the contracted area.
Andrew farms conventionally but has looked to implement reduced tillage establishment where possible, keeping the plough on hand for where it’s best suited. “We’re certainly going to continue to reduce tillage where possible, but aim to farm according to conditions.”
The farm’s relationship with John Deere dates back to Andrew’s father, with StarFire first implemented after its original launch in 2001. “I remember our local dealer coming to show us this new technology in the form of a brown box, saying it’d help with guidance,” he explains.
Back then the farm was applying pesticides and undertaking a lot of desiccations without guidance. “We realised almost instantly how useful it could be so started using it for cultivations too. We also had an early yield monitoring system for the combine, which was clunky but innovative at the time.”
USER-FRIENDLY
When the GreenStar 2600 was released, several machines were fitted with them. “These offered a user-friendly interface and moved us away from using a brown box with buttons to a touch screen display. Data had to be manually transferred using a flash card and uploaded to a PC and then any transfer back to the tractor had to be done physically, which had its limitations.
“Ideally it should have been done daily but when you’re busy harvesting that might not happen for the entire harvest, plus, the data could be corrupted or lost. However, it was still a useful tool all the same.”
Upgrading to the new StarFire 3000 receiver and adding RTK modems meant Andrew could achieve the best accuracy available at the time. Shortly after, the farm adopted the GreenStar 2630 system following its launch in 2011.
“If AutoTrac was a revolution when that was first launched in the early 2000s, the 2630 system was the next leap,” says Andrew. “It brought so many benefits to our cultivation and drilling operations. It also allowed us to adopt AutoTrac Turn Automation which we used on our larger tractors such as the 8 series.
“Then when section control was introduced, we used it on our third-party self-propelled sprayer to improve accuracy. Reducing overlaps was incredibly beneficial, reducing chemical use and resulting in less lodging from the overlapping liquid fertiliser and other inputs. This was something we hadn’t been able to control before introducing the technology to our system.”
One of the most significant benefits was the ability to wirelessly transfer data using the cloud, he adds. “I could transfer data easily on a daily basis which improved timeliness, made it more usable and resulted in a far simpler process.”
Overall, this resulted in a step up in accuracy and a boost in reliability for the farm. “Each time a new generation of StarFire is released we notice the increase in signal and performance,” notes Andrew.
These improvements allowed Andrew to look at application data, working off what was actually applied rather than what the planned application had been. “We were applying nitrogen variably using an N-Sensor and this was integrated with our tractors and John Deere system, so the data could be sent to and from the office to create maps and specific plans.”
After its release in 2013, Andrew began using John Deere’s Operations Center (previously MyJohnDeere). “One of the main benefits was that there was no cost to use it and I could collate all of the data from my tractors in one place.”
Data Sync Setup was then introduced to the farm’s self-propelled sprayers to aid with contract work, allowing the machines to work in the same field without overlapping.
The next jump for the farm was moving to mobile RTK. “We used a signal from our local dealer and then moved to base station tripods. It was quite something on our contract farms because we were mobile across the entire area we were farming and could use it further afield than before – it was a significant move for us and is as useful on the StarFire 7000 now as it was on the 3000.”
Moving to the StarFire 6000, Andrew noticed improvements in reliability, especially when it came to tree shading and the time taken for the receiver to pick up reception. “We then bought newer machines with 4200 CommandCenter terminals which had much improved interfaces, similar to iPads. Everything had become more integrated with the tractors and operator friendly, plus it was seamless to import data to Operations Center.”
By 2018, Andrew could access Operations Center on his mobile, which optimised his use of the system by assessing fuel use and work rates. “I undertook a labour and machinery profile project to chart the productivity per hectare and per hour. This resulted in noticeable benefits to our contracting work because we could determine real time costs and price accordingly, as well as find ways to optimise outputs.”
MODERN APPROACH
Bringing things up to date, Andrew now uses AutoPath, aligning boundary paths for all operators, Data Sync Setup to synchronise data across the fleet, has automated unloading combines into trailers using MachineSync to optimise filling and introduced StarFire 7000 receivers to a number of machines. “The new receivers run off an increased number of satellite constellations which improves accuracy even further.”
Some of the older technology is still used on farm, with a StarFire 6000 and a 2630 fitted to a John Deere Gator for Avadex and slug pellet application, while the older StarFire 3000 along with a second 2630 provide guidance on a Honda ATV. “The operators wouldn’t be without them so it’s amazing how this older technology is still being used today.”
On the whole, the farm has been an early adopter of precision technology says Andrew. “Luckily my father has been proactive and keen to take on new tech to explore the benefits it can bring to the business. He’s 79 now and is great with the technology generally.”
Andrew has integrated the technology with the business but connecting all of the different forms together has been one of the hardest elements. “Other challenges have included shading from obstacles such as trees, and while this is still the case it’s massively reduced compared with what it used to be. In addition, the accuracy we can achieve now is so precise.
“The technology has influenced us moving towards shallow tillage, providing the tools to quantify costs, giving us confidence in the accuracy of our figures and improved productivity no end. All these small areas of improvement added together result in significant benefits, and while the technology all costs money, those benefits outweigh what we’d lose if we didn’t have it.
“We know farming is going to be increasingly data-driven and there’ll be even more to be gained from adopting new technologies as they emerge,” he concludes.
This article was taken from the latest issue of CPM. Read the article in full here.
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