Canadá: Canadian potato growers using GPS for more efficient planting
As potato growers across P.E.I. plant this year’s crop, many are using the latest GPS technology to guide them.
"I’d say probably 80 per cent of growers out there would have something like this," said Will MacNeill, owner of Atlantic Precision Agri-Services, in West Devon, P.E.I.
"The most common technology is auto steer, where we steer the tractor and steer the planter with one inch accuracy just to maintain perfect spacing between passes," said MacNeill.
This is Vernon Campbell’s seventh crop using the GPS and auto steer. He’s a potato, beef and dairy farmer in Grahams Road, P.E.I., near Kensington.
"We’ve found it to be a quite an asset both in terms of crop quality and creature comfort as well," said Campbell.
"It’s a lot easier to operate, when you’re putting in 14 hour days, it’s nice to have nice straight rows and not have a headache with it."
An investment
Campbell admits his GPS system was not cheap, but has been worth it.
"It was an investment for us, it was between 40 and 50 thousand and that was seven years ago," he said.
"Over time we’ve been able to virtually eliminate sunburn in our potato crop and I think the quality of our crop is much improved."
Read more at cbc.ca
Fuente: http://www.freshplaza.com/article/176428/Canadian-potato-growers-using-GPS-for-more-efficient-planting
