Post on 27-Dec-2015
Precision Ag Technologies on Small Diversified Farms
Dakota DavisSpring 2013
Custom Work◦ Wheat Harvest◦ Small Square Baling and Hauling◦ Swathing and Round Baling
Commercial Cattle Operations Auctions
◦ Livestock Auction Yard Manager◦ Auctioneer
My Background
Registered Polled Hereford Seedstock◦ 500 Acres of Native Range Pasture
Commercial Beef Production◦ 200 Acres of Native Range Pasture
Auctioneer Part-Time Equipment Salesman at Enid New
Holland◦ Full-time upon graduation
120 Acres of Alfalfa Production
My Current Lifestyle
Livestock Production Custom/Commercial Haying Spraying Winter Wheat Production
Uses of Precision Ag
Grow Safe Feeders◦ Measures Residual Feed Intake and Cattle
Behavior◦ Useful in determining cattle that are feed efficient
Invest in those genetics◦ Once identified, we can produce more beef for
consumes with less grain input
Livestock Production
How it Works Each Calf in the Pen has an RFID Tag that is read by the feeder System Calculates
◦ Duration and intake for every individual feeding event up to one second accurate (feeding event criterion is user defined).
◦ Head down and in to out duration during this event up to one second accurate.◦ Feed disappearance during events up to one second accurate.◦ Feeding frequency throughout the day◦ Automatic calculation of feed supply.◦ Feeding rate throughout feeding event.◦ Animals standing at the bunk not consuming feed.◦ Time of the event, one second accurate.◦ Intervals between events.◦ Number of animals feeding simultaneously.◦ Social hierarchy - "who feeds besides who" and "who feeds first".◦ Sends data to Computer for Analysis
Cost is $120,000 to feed 125 head
Grow Safe
Accurate Information to use in developing feed efficient Beef
Primarily will be used in Seedstock Industry Saves on Input Costs Decreases Pollution in the Environment
◦ Efficient Cattle use less grain, which means they will emit less Methane gas into the environment.
Feed the world with less animals and less land use requirements
Potential Benefits
Embryo Transfer work in Cattle◦ Allows producers to super ovulate cattle so they
produce more eggs for fertilization. Once fertilized the embryos can be flushed from the uterus and placed in recipient females.
◦ This means that superior animals who naturally produce one offspring each year can produce multiple offspring creating a faster turnover in genetic improvement.
Livestock Production
Cost for basic In-Vivo ET work is $300-350/cow Cost for In-Vitro ET work is $1000-1100/cow
Embryo Transfer
Lely Astronaut A4◦ Robotic Milking Machine◦ Requires no human interaction◦ Cows go into he pen by themselves and the
milker does the rest
Livestock Production
Business Week Cost in the United States is $210,000/robot http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2012
-10-05/the-210-000-cow-milking-robot
Lely Astronaut A4
Custom and Commercial New Holland H8000 Series Self Propelled
Windrower◦ Intelliview III Monitor- Comes Standard◦ Autosteer-$7300 Upgrade◦ Total Cost is between $90,000-$100,000 for the
machine
Hay production
New Holland T7.235 Tractor◦ These Tractors come with options like:
Autosteer WAAS or RTK Guidance Sidewinder Armrest with Intelliview III Monitor Tier 4 Emission Compliant
◦ Tractor Cost with all these options: $197254 RSP Actually cost can get down in to:
$170k-180k
Crop Production and Baling
Allows farmers to better understand their soil nutrient content ◦ Therefore they can achieve better use of their
fertilizer When to do it?
◦ If you acquire a new farm without known history◦ Every Few Years at you discretion
Cost in Sumner County, KS:Heartland Soil Sampling- $8.25-$9.25/acre
Soil Sampling
Improves quality of life◦ More time at home due to increased efficiencies◦ Increases production yields◦ Creates more food with better use of inputs
Decreases Fatigue in operations◦ When using guidance or “robot milkers” or any
other P.A technology, it generally reduces the amount of physical labor required
Increases bottom line◦ By reducing costs and optimizing inputs, you
increase profits
Why Use Precision Ag?
Sources◦ www.newholland.com◦ http://
www.businessweek.com/articles/2012-10-05/the-210-000-cow-milking-robot
◦ www.lely.com◦ www.heartlandsoilsampling.com◦ www.growsafe.com
Any Questions?