TESTIMONIAL

X20 SYSTEM GIVES SA FARMER PEACE OF MIND

Jamestown, SA, Australia, February 2004: With a mind to moving into precision agriculture practices, Stockport (SA) farmer Mark Branson invested in a Topcon Precision Agriculture X20 guidance and variable rate controller with Maplink facility.

Mark Branson bought the X20 system because of its modular design.

"Initially I was only interested in the guidance, variable rate control along with the Maplink facility for mapping the farm, but I could see the advantages of being able to add spraying control and auto steer, among other things, to the system as I expanded my precision agriculture activities into tram lining and controlled traffic farming," he said.

"I also liked the idea of having the manufacturer and the design technicians within easy reach in the state to get me started and overcome any beginners teething problems I might have experienced".

"It's good to be able to talk directly to the design technicians," he added.

With a predominantly winter rainfall of between 425/500mm, the 1000ha Branson farm in the State¹s (SA) lower north region comprises a mixture of soils ranging from red brown earths and grey loams through to self-mulching clays with, according to Mark, plenty of constraints including shallow topsoils, rocky outcrops, sodic subsoils, boron in the subsoils and acidity.

With an annual 800ha cropping program comprised of durum and bread wheats, malting and feed barley, canola, faba beans and field peas, Mark said his first move towards precision agriculture came in 1997 with the purchase of a new Case-IH harvester equipped with yield and moisture monitors and a DGPS receiver.

"This was the start of knowing and understanding the crop yields of the farm," Mark said.

"It convinced me that to fully know and understand what was happening on the farm, I had to take the next step and map the yield results and then incorporate variable rate application of the fertilisers and sprays," he added.

Before buying the X20 with its inbuilt guidance system, Mark said tractor driving was a matter of following tine marks and hoping for the best.

"Today, over and/or under lapping are things of the past and I know I¹m applying the right amount of fertilisers and spray to the right spots in each paddock," he said.

The Branson planting equipment comprises a 10m (33 ft) Case-IH seeding bar (with 230mm (9 in) row spacings) fitted with Sharman presswheels, and coupled to a 2000 litre Horwood Bagshaw quad-box airseeder (Electric drives and GPS compatible) to which 29m (96 ft) Vogt Engineering urea booms can be attached, and a 29m Hardi sprayer.

"The sowing equipment is one third the width of the spray and urea booms and all of it is on 2.2m wheel spacings," Mark Branson said.

While the move towards precision agriculture was happening with the aid of his X20 system, Mark was also moving from conventional cropping practices to direct drilling and tram lining with a future plan for full controlled traffic farming.

"With the X20 guidance system I¹m already working (sowing) my paddocks on an up and back basis rather than round and round," he said.

This works very well and has made spraying an easier and more accurate job, especially as the crops get higher.

"Using a foam marker when spraying and/or applying urea in a growing crop is a bit of a hit and miss job, particularly with 29m booms."

"This is an area where the X20 with its guidance and variable rate application systems has really paid for itself."

"As I move further into precision agriculture and eventually controlled traffic farming, the X20 gives me, not only confidence in what I'm doing, but also the peace of mind that I¹m doing it properly and accurately."

"With the harvester equipped with a yield monitor, and with Maplink, I now simply put a disk in the tractor mounted X20 system and know that I'm putting the right amount of fertiliser and/or spray in the right spots in each paddock", Mark Branson said.

For more information about Topcon Precision Agriculture, or to express interest in becoming a dealer call 08 8203 3300

back