Occasionally, a technology comes along that has “breakthrough” written all over it. The Profit Maps tool introduced by John Deere and Granular could be that next breakthrough tech. It may do for analyzing the importance of yields and crop output what Precision Planting’s SmartFirmer is doing for analyzing the soil, seed and other inputs going into the ground.

John Deere and Granular recently announced the most recent development from their collaboration agreement: Profit Maps. The tool is available now to farmers who use the John Deere Operations Center. Instead of showing you a yield map, it displays a profit map. The idea is simple and long overdue: Which spots within the field are making you money? Of those, which are making the most money? Are there spots where you are losing money? If that pattern continues to show up year after year, how long do you keep farming those spots? It’s an ag economist’s dream come true.

Harley Janssen, product manager from Granular, says the Profit Maps tool will help farmers assess the financial return to farming on a subfield level. Farmers by now are accustomed to colored yield maps, where various colors represent certain yield ranges, depending upon the yield key set by the operator. Profit Maps could work much the same way. Various colors represent profit or loss based on average costs and revenue, spokespeople explain.

High-flotation applicator
Agco introduces the TerraGator C Series high-flotation applicators from Challenger. They can be equipped with either dry or liquid application systems. Spokespeople say the goal in developing this new series was to achieve the most accurate blend, rate and placement control of any application equipment on the market.

Agco’s Power engines that drive the new machines are precision-balanced for less vibration and longer engine life. The drive system is built with off-road use in mind. You can choose a speed from creep to 46 miles per hour and select a field speed consistent with precise application. The new machines feature seven boom units for section control.

Monitor weather conditions
Onset goes one step further in the field of weather monitoring by introducing the HOBOnet Field Monitoring System featuring new wireless sensors. These new sensors can monitor temperature, humidity, rain, wind, soil moisture, solar radiation and more. They’re powered by a built-in solar panel and can be placed up to 1,500 feet apart.

HOBOlink software and Onset’s RX3000 remote monitoring weather station are the heart of the net system. Connect up to 50 sensors to monitor either inside a greenhouse or outside in field conditions. Learn more at onsetcomp.com.

Raven, Topcon partnership
Raven Industries and Topcon Agriculture have signed a licensing agreement so Topcon can use the Slingshot Application Programming Interface in its Raven hardware. The agreement allows customers to access necessary tools and data using Slingshot. The goal is to take another step forward in making it easy for customers to share data across platforms, spokespeople say.

For his part, Paul Welbig, director of Slingshot Services and Logistics, says they’re excited to add Topcon to an expanding number of partners for Slingshot. Topcon’s Brian Sorbe says the move sits well with their goal of forming partnerships and collaborating, even with companies they compete with in the marketplace.