Article taken from Farmers Guide magazine
To provide a new level of both mechanical, but more importantly agronomic support, Claas UK has teamed up with agronomy specialists Agrovista UK to ensure that users of the lsaria Crop Sensor receive an unprecedented level of support unmatched by other systems. The agreement between the two companies means that, in addition to full mechanical support for the sensor from Claas dealer Easy precision farming specialists, this is also backed-up by Agrovista's full range of agronomic specialist knowledge and software including the latest MapIT Pro data management system, which is part of the cloud based real-time AXIS data hub. The lsaria Crop Sensor is Isobus compatible, so enables both the sensor and the spreader to be used with the same lSO-compatible control terminal. It is the first sensor to be awarded an AEF certificate for Isobus compatibility, says Claas, which confirms its compatibility with current Isobus terminals, and will be listed on the AEF database so that users can check its compatibility with current or new technology. The sensor is mounted on the front of the tractor, which has the advantage that it is further from the spreader, so more accurate.
Also, by measuring vertically at 80cm above the crop instead of at an angle, this again aids accuracy, adds the company. The two sensor heads incorporate four high-performance sensor LEDs that enable the sensor to be used day or night, plus an optical sensor and a distance sensor. These take a real-time measurement of the crop's nitrogen requirement, which is then used to automatically alter the fertiliser spreading rate accordingly. Unlike other sensors, the lsaria does not need to be manually calibrated on a regular basis or require any agronomic input, making it far easier to use.
Using biomass reflection as the measure for crop analysis, working over a 50cm diameter area, up to 800 measurements of the light reflected by the crop are taken every second. These measurements are then used to calculate the IRMI vegetation index, which reflects the current nitrogen supply to the crop. The data produced by the sensor will automatically record all the input and biomass data from the crop which, using Agrovista's MapIT Pro Advanced data manager will help build-up an overall 'picture' of the crop. In addition to allowing easy access to view both field and input data, the data can also be easily utilised to create both yield potential and also variable seed rate maps. The Agrovista MapIT Pro software will allow the user to set up their own yield potential maps, either from field knowledge or by using other data layers such as soil conductivity data or yield maps. The collaboration between the two companies will ensure that Claas yield data can be seamlessly imported into the cloud based software to be easily accessed anywhere using a number of platforms.