LAMMA: Three innovations that caught my eye
By Jeff Goulding, Farm Services Director, Muddy Boots Software.
Jeff Goulding – Farm Services Director, Muddy Boots Software
This year’s LAMMA show had a lot on offer, in addition to the mud of course which has come to be an expectation at any sort of UK farming event! As I walked around the show there were a number of things that caught my eye but there were three innovations in particular that really stood out.
The first, which is always a hot topic, is the growing use of unmanned aerial vehicles or UAVs. In the crops industry there are a lot of applications for this technology. There is huge interest in its use for scanning, taking pictures and sending crop and yield capability. It is also useful as a means of scouting crop performance and yield potential as UAVs are able to carry a video camera. As they fly over the crop, they give the agronomist a view of the land they wouldn’t normally be party to. Most significantly perhaps is its ability to allow the agronomist to cover more acres in a timely manner.
The second interesting innovation was around controlled traffic farming or CTF. This enables a farmer to control the traffic on their farm by GPS, steering tractors, spreaders, cultivators etc, ensuring they all travel the same route year in and year out. So for example if you have a 36 metre sprayer, you may have a 6 metre drill and a 12 metre combine – CTF means the wheels of the machines are always travelling the same route and therefore the areas in between remain untouched. This greatly benefits the farmer by reducing soil compaction, to better root development, reducing run off and providing better drainage for an improved yield.
The final innovation that really stood out to me was the increasing use of rubber tracks rather than tyres. These are now being used on all sorts of machinery. Typically anything with tyres will have a high impact on soil but with rubber tracks there is a far lighter footprint in addition to improved traction, saving machinery from damaging the crops and soil.
LAMMA is always great for the latest and greatest for the farmer and agronomist and this year was no different. It will be great to see how these farming innovations support and grow the farming industry and the effect they will have on the farms capacity to produce a quality product.
