# Ag Technology



## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

From AgWeb.

Regards, Mike

http://www.agweb.com/article/the-best-free-way-to-future-proof-your-farm-naa-ben-potter/

Read the comment....


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

Lol.....he's right, the "futurist" needs a dose of wisdom.....


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

I went to a Agleader field day a few weeks ago.Sky is the limit on what you can spend.They had a 24 row planter sitting there and the individual electric row drives cost $48,000 on that planter.


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## hog987 (Apr 5, 2011)

I think they are right about the 3D printing. Won't be long and we will start seeing them on farms because they wont cost very much. Than us farmers will use them to print all those plastic parts the dealers charge an arm and a leg for.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

swmnhay said:


> I went to a Agleader field day a few weeks ago.Sky is the limit on what you can spend.They had a 24 row planter sitting there and the individual electric row drives cost $48,000 on that planter.


Dang....you have to be growing something illegal to make that pay....ain't going to do it with $2-$3 corn.

Regards, Mike


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## somedevildawg (Jun 20, 2011)

swmnhay said:


> I went to a Agleader field day a few weeks ago.Sky is the limit on what you can spend.They had a 24 row planter sitting there and the individual electric row drives cost $48,000 on that planter.


Wow


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

hog987 said:


> I think they are right about the 3D printing. Won't be long and we will start seeing them on farms because they wont cost very much. Than us farmers will use them to print all those plastic parts the dealers charge an arm and a leg for.


No you won't... Ma Deere will stop it... "intellectual property" and all that.

It'll make it cheaper for the manufacturer to make those overpriced parts and STILL clean your plow when you have to buy them, but they'll be SOME cheaper so you'll be happy that the price has come down.

3D printing for prototyping and SOME manufacturing is going to be "the next big thing"-- SpaceX is already using it to make complex rocket engine turbine parts and housings that are a nightmare to machine out of solid material. It's saving them a LOT of time and money on prototyping for testing and manufacturing. Right now it's being used at the high end of the scale-- just a matter of time before it comes down to "lower end" manufacturing (ie ag-equipment).

Drones are another big emerging technology, that, if they work out and gubmint doesn't get in the way, will be a game changer. The technology is developing fast. Course it remains to be seen exactly how far it'll go, and who the winners will be.

Technology is great, but the REAL key is figuring out when to invest in it and how to actually make money on it-- ie "return on investment".

You gotta cover a LOT of acres to pay for $48,000 worth of electric meter drives (return on investment over what you'd have made without them).

Later! OL J R


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

luke strawwalker said:


> You gotta cover a LOT of acres to pay for $48,000 worth of electric meter drives (return on investment over what you'd have made without them).
> 
> Later! OL J R


Under the right circumstanses it does actualy pay,but not mine.LOL

3000 acre farmer it would cost 16 a acre to setup,thats if you already have the auto steer and GPS.IIRC they claimed 1.5 yr payoff.

It was actualy pretty amazing as it controls the population on every row individualy around curves.They planted in a circle in the yard and the seed was equally spaced on the inside of the circle as well as the outside.So a farm with alot of contours it will keep the population the same around curves.I forget what they said but around contours pretty easy to vary 10% going around a curve.

Also it has the row shutoffs integrated into the system.No overlaps of seed or point row overlaps.So seed saveings there plus where its overlapped you take a yield hit.Seed saveings can vary alot but pretty common for some guys to save 5%

Part of the 48K was the extra alternator run off hydraulics to run all 24 electric motors that was mounted on the planter.

That was their sales pitch anyway,I won't be buying anytime soon.lol


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## haybaler101 (Nov 30, 2008)

Actually, wanting to go to a 12 or 16 row planter with electric drives. Already have the GPS and the auto steer and the integra monitor. Seed savings on point/end rows I think would be huge. I have auto boom shut offs on the sprayer and would not even consider trying to spray without them.


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## stack em up (Mar 7, 2013)

We run swath control and variable rate planting, and wouldn't plant without it. Think everything cost us close to $20,000 but can save an insane amount of $400/bag seed corn. And we now run prescription planting, and that will help a lot in the sand pockets and areas where it just won't produce.


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## Vol (Jul 5, 2009)

swmnhay said:


> Under the right circumstanses it does actualy pay,but not mine.LOL
> 
> 3000 acre farmer it would cost 16 a acre to setup,thats if you already have the auto steer and GPS.IIRC they claimed 1.5 yr payoff.
> 
> ...


That is amazing.

Regards, Mike


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## swmnhay (Jun 13, 2008)

The technology defiantly pays saving in seed and chemicals in overlaps.It will pay quicker for some then others.I'm fortunate with mostly square large fields so don't have much for point rows or overlaps.Pretty common to hear of guys saveing 5-15 bags of seed corn per yr so it adds up pretty fast.

I just put auto steer in 2 tractors this yr and it sure saved with fatigue planting and you could even read Haytalk going across the field,lol.

Saved on overlaps on the tillage tractor but in reality it will take a long time to pay for it besides operator fatigue


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## Teslan (Aug 20, 2011)

hog987 said:


> I think they are right about the 3D printing. Won't be long and we will start seeing them on farms because they wont cost very much. Than us farmers will use them to print all those plastic parts the dealers charge an arm and a leg for.


What they will charge for is the programs or plans to be able to print the part. And each company Agco, Deere, Fiat, will be selling their own printers, printing supplies. And probably a design plan for a John Deere printer won't work with a printer from another company. They will get us one way or the other.


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## luke strawwalker (Jul 31, 2014)

Teslan said:


> What they will charge for is the programs or plans to be able to print the part. And each company Agco, Deere, Fiat, will be selling their own printers, printing supplies. And probably a design plan for a John Deere printer won't work with a printer from another company. They will get us one way or the other.


Always have, always will...

Later! OL J R


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