During a media day in Middelburg in Mpumalanga, Schalk Oosthuizen, product manager; Stefan Nel, managing director; Nico Myburgh, manager of precision technology; Arno du Plessis, head of tactical marketing and Heinz Oellermann, Agri Technovation’s head of grain, outlined their plans for the future. (Photo: Du Preez de Villiers)
Case IH has pushed the boundaries of tillage technology development with the introduction of hydraulic depth control.
Dubbed Soil command, it operates on Case IH’s Advanced Farming Systems platform, AFS-connect. This is Case IH’s comprehensive precision farming system that collects agronomic data from a variety of sources and interprets it to give instructions to tractors and implements to perform their tasks more precisely. This information and data can also be made available to third parties.
According to Case IH’s research and development team, it is just as important that the planting depth level below the ground should be as level as the seed bed. When the planter’s shoe or opening discs move through the soil, the planter unit will bounce around if the surface is uneven. This will cause the seed to be planted unevenly.
Case IH’s engineers put a sensor on top of the tines of its Tiger tiller to log and map any breakaway action caused by an uneven working depth for the following season.
This information is sent through the Isobus communication port to the screen in the cab so that the driver can see exactly how serious the problem is and then make adjustments. The implement can also take control of the tractor to work it slower or faster, or deeper or shallower as the underground profile requires. Soil Command can also use the previous season’s soil profile maps to adjust the tillage accordingly.
Arno du Plessis, Case IH’s head of tactical marketing says this system can work on conventional or no-till systems, which include vertical cultivators, tine or disc implements
“Soil Command can instruct the tractor to lift the implement over areas that need to be preserved, or make it work very deep where the crop residues are thick, where there are erosion ditches or through compaction layers that need to be broken,” he says.
Case IH sy Tiger-Mate 255 Field Cultivator is equipped with AFS Soil Command and in front is Case IH se 450 Quatrac tractor. (Photo: Du Preez de Villiers)
Tractor data in the cloud
You no longer have to take all the data generated by your Case IH tractor with a memory stick from the cab to the office or go back and upload data cards. Everything can now be done with the push of a button on your smart device.
Jacques Coetzee, head of wholesale sales, told Rhewal that this system is featured in the new Steiger and Magnum models.
“A Farmer can now sit comfortably on his couch and quickly see any information about his tractor on his smartphone or give instructions. For example, he can see when the tractor needs to be serviced again, or directly see how much oil it uses, or update the software as needed.
“He can also upload data maps, or decide which of the data his tractor generates he wants to store in the cloud or share with third parties,” says Coetzee.
A tractor that recently landed in South Africa and is equipped with AFS Connect was recently exhibited at the Africa Agri Tech show in Pretoria.
Esmond Coen, Case IH’s agricultural solutions manager, shows off the new Magnum 280 equipped with AFS Connect, on display at Africa Agri Tech. (Photo: Du Preez de Villiers)
Case IH and Agri Technovation find each other in precision agriculture
Case IH and Agri Technovation, which specialize in the mapping of soil data and the corresponding agricultural advice, entered into a partnership last year so that they can jointly provide the full precision agriculture package for farmers.
“The decision came because we have all the wonderful technology and machines that we can put on the farm for a farmer, but now a farmer needs five, six agricultural experts and advisers to do the rest, while it is possible to do the whole package,” says Du Plessis
“The company that stood out above all others was Agri Technovation and we want to combine the structures and potential of both of us to provide a better service.”
Heinz Oellermann, Agri Technovation’s head of grain, says his company has the view that they don’t want to tackle everything alone and want business partners “and that’s why we reached out to Case IH.
“We are heart and soul in the partnership. It caught fire well and already picked up good speed.”
