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| Filling up the planter with bags of corn. |
HD and I rode with Kevin for a little while the other day. Usually it’s just HD out there with him, I don’t think he appreciated sharing “his” seat with mommy! This year, there are a few more computers and monitors in the tractor cab. The tractor is enabled with GPS and auto-steer. Basically, the tractor will drive itself, you just have to turn it around when you get to the end of a row. I have to think that auto-steer would work a lot better on flat ground. Where we farm, it’s pretty hilly and we have lots of terraces, so it’s not like you can just sit back and relax while the tractor takes care of itself! The driver really has to pay attention to all of the monitors and also to wear the tractor is heading. In the picture below you can see a line in the dirt. That is made by the marker on the planter when it was coming back the other direction. As long as you keep the center of the tractor on that line, your rows should be evenly spaced.
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| All the monitors in the tractor cab. |
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| Auto-steer |
By using the GPS and auto-steer in the tractor, it helps the driver plant more evenly spaced rows, you can see on the map where you have been and where you still need to plant, it keeps track of what type of seed you planted and where and it keeps a record of the total acres that you planted, so when you go to harvest you can see how many bushels per acre you are harvesting.
It only took about a week to a week and a half for the corn plants to pop out of the ground. Since we’ve been getting a lot of rain and it’s been pretty warm, it was ideal growing conditions. Before we know it, it will be taller than us!
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