Sackets Harbor farmer to present equipment technology at farm show

SACKETS HARBOR — When farmer Ronald C. Robbins harvests rows of corn with his John Deere combine, he is able to carve perfect rows in the field without any overlapping thanks to a GPS mapping system that does all the work for him while steering with no hands.

With 6,000 acres of corn, soybeans, wheat and alfalfa crops to harvest, the equipment saves him valuable time and thousands of dollars that can be channeled elsewhere.

Mr. Robbins said the GPS system is only one of the ways today’s farming technology has made life easier at Robbins Family Grain, which he owns with his wife, Nancy M., and son, Brian C. He uses a mapping software on his computer to keep a close eye on everything from the moisture content of hay, amount of fertilizer and number of seeds planted to crops in his field that have low growth.

Mr. Robbins and other farmers will talk about the advantages of the latest farming technology at the New York State Farm Show on Feb. 23 during a panel discussion hosted by John Deere. Held at the State Fairgrounds in Syracuse, the show runs from Feb. 23 to 25 and will feature a wide range of activities for farmers.

“During planning time, we can pinpoint exactly what seeds are planted where in the field by viewing maps on the computer,” he said of the equipment. “And once you set the GPS coordinates for the field, it allows you to operate hands-free with perfectly straight rows.”

After harvesting his crops, Mr. Robbins transfers the data from the equipment to his computer using a flash drive. Detailed maps for the program highlight particular areas with low growth, he said, enabling him to make adjustments. Poor crop growth could be due to a number of reasons: low fertilizer or pH levels, for example, or inadequate water drainage.

“You can look at those sites and analyze why the yield might be reduced and make the necessary improvements,” he said, adding that soil samples are taken to do so. “We can install drainage tiles to make sure we didn’t have a water level issue” with the soil.

This spring, Mr. Robbins will install equipment called John Deere Harvest Lab that will measure the tonnage per acre of harvested crops. He said the equipment will cost about $20,000, but he said farmers can make an investment of about $5,000 to purchase entry-level equipment.

Every winter, Mr. Robbins evaluates how well his crops performed during the last year and what changes are called for. Instead of using notebooks to do so, he’ll now be able to cull the data he needs with the click of a button.

“It’ll help us evaluate what performed well under certain weather conditions if we had a dry or wet summer, and we’ll be able to look at how the seeds we used performed,” he said. “We’ll be able to decide if we want to use the same (products) again or make a change. When I evaluate what our cost and income structure is going to look like, all of this information can play into that.”

The equipment also will simplify the process of measuring moisture and starch content of hay by providing an accurate reading right away, Mr. Robbins said. Doing so will help ensure that his 800 dairy cattle, which use about half of the hay that’s harvested for forage, are eating a healthful diet every year.

“We’ll be able to know without having to take a sample and weigh it like we’ve been doing, which can take hours,” he said. If the cattle feed is too wet or dry, he said, it could make an entire herd sick because of high acid levels.

Mr. Robbins’s son, Brian, said the technology eventually will store years’ worth of mapping data that memorizes how particular sections of the field have performed. When a planting machine crosses over sections that have had issues in past years, the machines will automatically adjust the number of seeds and amount of fertilizer used.

“If there’s a certain part of a field that doesn’t yield, it will lower the amount of fertilizer it puts on automatically,” he said, “and when you go out of that area, it will raise the level back up.”

While farmers will always combat uncontrollable factors, such as the weather and changing market prices, they can take advantage of today’s technology to get a leg up that could make a key difference over the long term.

“What it comes down to is really managing the details with this technology, and the possibilities are endless,” he said. “It’s just a matter of what level a farmer wants to take it to.”