Article taken from Agronomist & Arable Farmer MagazineAgrovista’ new web based data management system, MapIT ProAdvanced, which helps growers cope with the vast amounts of digital informationcreated on their farms, is ready for release.
MapIT Pro made its public debut at Cereals 2015 where it drew plenty ofinterest from growers looking to manage their digital data and maximise thepotential benefits this new technology can offer.
Agrovista has been busy developing MapIT Pro since then, and has made some significantadvances that are now included in the latest MapIT Pro Advanced package, sayshead of precision technology Lewis Mckerrow.
“The amount of information farmers have to deal with is growing exponentiallyas the adoption of decision support and Precision Farming jigsaw to fall intoplace.”
Latest developments have focused on data importing and field zonecreation. “We have worked hard on the userinterface since Cereals, maximising screen real estate for the maps andsimplifying some of the processes,” says Mr Mckerrow.
“We wanted to strike a balance, making it simple to use for new users andpowerful enough for growers who have experience in this area. The fact that it is all processed in the webbrought by a number of challenges.”
Agrovista has made some big innovations with MapIT Pro Advanced. For example, it is possible to start with aboundary and create a variable rate seed plan in less than a minute, which Mr Mckerrowclaims to be industry leading.
Mr Mckerrow believes this function, along with viewing yield data, will be akey area of use for growers this autumn. “We are seeing an increasing number of clients looking to technology tohelp push yields further. With the newsoftware we can effectively target any input to particular areas of the fieldto try and push them further, even them up, or in some cases cut back where thesoil may have limited potential. The aimof any inputs should be to maximise return on investment and have the mostefficient cost per ton of production.”
With reference to variable rate drilling plans, users can choose to use an existinglayer of data such as soil conductivity, yield or biomass maps, and theprogramme will then turn these into zoned maps at the press of a button, saysMr Mckerrow.
“We wanted to strike a balance, making it simple to use for new users andpowerful enough for growers who have experience in this area. The fact that it is all processed in the webbrought a number of challenges.”
Agrovista has made some big innovations with MapIT Pro Advances. For example it is possible to start with aboundary and create a variable rate seed plan in less than a minute, which Mr Mckerrowbelieves this function, along with viewing yield data, will be a key area ofuse for growers this autumn. “We areseeing an increasing number of our clients looking to technology to help pushyields further. With the new software wecan effectively target any input to particular areas of the field to try andpush them further, even them up, or in some cases cut back where the soil mayhave limited potential. The aim of anyinputs should be to maximise return on investment and have the most efficentcost per ton of production.”
With reference to variable rate drilling plans, users can choose to use anexisting layer of data such as soil conductivity, yield or biomass maps, andthe programme will then turn these into zoned maps at the press of a button,says Mr McKerrow. Alternatively they canstart with a blank field boundary and draw seed zones manually, or use acombination of both techniques, as appropriate. Agrovista has developed thesimple user interface to make these agronomy tools accessible by anybody,regardless of experience. “I have beenusing other systems on the market for number of years, importing yield data,cleaning it up, and making zone plans,” says Mr Mckerrow. “Even with a good computing background, Ifound the process too long winded and complicated, hence I developed our systemfrom scratch to address these issues.”
MapIT Pro is the latest addidition to Axis, Agrovista’s cloud based agronomymanagement system. The advanced softwareis available for free trial by registering for the Axis system. After the free trial period there will be anannual subscription charge. “The nextdevelopments for the spring will allow us to import more data formats and alsoimport imagery from UAV’s,” says Mr Mckerrow. “WE will also be making updates to our MapIT Pro iPhone app to allow usto view data layers and pinpoint problem areas to locate when out in thefield.”
Key MapIT Pro Highlights:
- Importing data
Users can drag and drop files from acomputer hard drive or memory stick straight into the import tool in MapITPro. The only thing the user needs to dois choose which part of the data they want to import (yield, dry matter etc.)
- Smart field matching
Information from multiple fields isoften included on one data file. MapITPro cleverly matches data to the correct field boundary. If there is no match or boundary in the system,the user can add new field direct from the import screen.
- Easy data editing
Users can remove over lapped pointsor parts where the machine turns to make imported the information‘cleaner’. MapIT Pro’s easy to use graphedit system allows the user to view a bar chart of the data and then edit outvery low or high values.
- Data layer management
As layers of data build up it canbecome hard to assess. MApIT Pro allowsdata layers to be viewed together. Theycan also be brought in and out of view with slider bars. Layers can also be dragged and dropped into adifferent order – users can view yield on top of soil type, for example.~
- Zones creation tool
Zones in fields are becoming a commonagronomic management tool, derived from data gathered and historic fieldknowledge. MapIT Pro software includes atool that allows zone creation from either of these sources or a hybrid ofboth, so the user can start out with data, modify it and then save.
MapIT Pro made its public debut at Cereals 2015 where it drew plenty ofinterest from growers looking to manage their digital data and maximise thepotential benefits this new technology can offer.
Agrovista has been busy developing MapIT Pro since then, and has made some significantadvances that are now included in the latest MapIT Pro Advanced package, sayshead of precision technology Lewis Mckerrow.
“The amount of information farmers have to deal with is growing exponentiallyas the adoption of decision support and Precision Farming jigsaw to fall intoplace.”
Latest developments have focused on data importing and field zonecreation. “We have worked hard on the userinterface since Cereals, maximising screen real estate for the maps andsimplifying some of the processes,” says Mr Mckerrow.
“We wanted to strike a balance, making it simple to use for new users andpowerful enough for growers who have experience in this area. The fact that it is all processed in the webbrought by a number of challenges.”
Agrovista has made some big innovations with MapIT Pro Advanced. For example, it is possible to start with aboundary and create a variable rate seed plan in less than a minute, which Mr Mckerrowclaims to be industry leading.
Mr Mckerrow believes this function, along with viewing yield data, will be akey area of use for growers this autumn. “We are seeing an increasing number of clients looking to technology tohelp push yields further. With the newsoftware we can effectively target any input to particular areas of the fieldto try and push them further, even them up, or in some cases cut back where thesoil may have limited potential. The aimof any inputs should be to maximise return on investment and have the mostefficient cost per ton of production.”
With reference to variable rate drilling plans, users can choose to use an existinglayer of data such as soil conductivity, yield or biomass maps, and theprogramme will then turn these into zoned maps at the press of a button, saysMr Mckerrow.
“We wanted to strike a balance, making it simple to use for new users andpowerful enough for growers who have experience in this area. The fact that it is all processed in the webbrought a number of challenges.”
Agrovista has made some big innovations with MapIT Pro Advances. For example it is possible to start with aboundary and create a variable rate seed plan in less than a minute, which Mr Mckerrowbelieves this function, along with viewing yield data, will be a key area ofuse for growers this autumn. “We areseeing an increasing number of our clients looking to technology to help pushyields further. With the new software wecan effectively target any input to particular areas of the field to try andpush them further, even them up, or in some cases cut back where the soil mayhave limited potential. The aim of anyinputs should be to maximise return on investment and have the most efficentcost per ton of production.”
With reference to variable rate drilling plans, users can choose to use anexisting layer of data such as soil conductivity, yield or biomass maps, andthe programme will then turn these into zoned maps at the press of a button,says Mr McKerrow. Alternatively they canstart with a blank field boundary and draw seed zones manually, or use acombination of both techniques, as appropriate. Agrovista has developed thesimple user interface to make these agronomy tools accessible by anybody,regardless of experience. “I have beenusing other systems on the market for number of years, importing yield data,cleaning it up, and making zone plans,” says Mr Mckerrow. “Even with a good computing background, Ifound the process too long winded and complicated, hence I developed our systemfrom scratch to address these issues.”
MapIT Pro is the latest addidition to Axis, Agrovista’s cloud based agronomymanagement system. The advanced softwareis available for free trial by registering for the Axis system. After the free trial period there will be anannual subscription charge. “The nextdevelopments for the spring will allow us to import more data formats and alsoimport imagery from UAV’s,” says Mr Mckerrow. “WE will also be making updates to our MapIT Pro iPhone app to allow usto view data layers and pinpoint problem areas to locate when out in thefield.”
Key MapIT Pro Highlights:
- Importing data
Users can drag and drop files from acomputer hard drive or memory stick straight into the import tool in MapITPro. The only thing the user needs to dois choose which part of the data they want to import (yield, dry matter etc.)
- Smart field matching
Information from multiple fields isoften included on one data file. MapITPro cleverly matches data to the correct field boundary. If there is no match or boundary in the system,the user can add new field direct from the import screen.
- Easy data editing
Users can remove over lapped pointsor parts where the machine turns to make imported the information‘cleaner’. MapIT Pro’s easy to use graphedit system allows the user to view a bar chart of the data and then edit outvery low or high values.
- Data layer management
As layers of data build up it canbecome hard to assess. MApIT Pro allowsdata layers to be viewed together. Theycan also be brought in and out of view with slider bars. Layers can also be dragged and dropped into adifferent order – users can view yield on top of soil type, for example.~
- Zones creation tool
Zones in fields are becoming a commonagronomic management tool, derived from data gathered and historic fieldknowledge. MapIT Pro software includes atool that allows zone creation from either of these sources or a hybrid ofboth, so the user can start out with data, modify it and then save.