Smart potato farming: AVR and Dacom combine field and machine data

For some time now, potato harvester manufacturer AVR has been offering agricultural companies technology for data collection. This data is displayed on the digital platform AVR Connect, offering the farmer improved, real time insights into what is going on inside the machine, how it is operating, and how the process can be made more efficient.

This platform has been further developed in collaboration with Dacom Farm Intelligence, allowing for the parcel data to be linked to the machine data, which results in an even more comprehensive overview.

The objective is to reduce the cultivation costs and contribute to a sustainable food production using targeted recommendations originating from secure links between AVR Connect and the Dacom Cloudfarm application.
 

AVR Connect automatically collects Cloudfarm field data.

From now on, AVR Connect can easily be used to create a secure link to the Dacom Cloudfarm package (provided that the cultivator is subscribed to Dacom Cloudfarm). The AVR machine data can automatically be transferred to Cloudfarm, and the field data can automatically be read in by AVR Connect.

During harvesting, the following data is logged:

• The current fuel consumption.
• The yield.
• The number of planted potatoes per square meter
• The registered location data and the totals are wirelessly available in AVR Connect.

Using this link, fields can be synchronized between both platforms, and yield and other machine data of the connected AVR harvesters can be forwarded to Dacom (e.g. for visualizing yield cards within Dacom).

When a connection is made, these data are automatically sent to Dacom Cloudfarm.

User benefits of shared data

• Using the totals, the cultivation document can be completed automatically (e.g. harvest registration including hours, fuel consumption, used machine and total yield).
• This cultivation registration can then be used for reporting, permissions checks (e.g. safety time), or calculating balances.
• User-friendly, offers insight (reporting and costs) and visualizes the differences within the parcel.
• Within Cloudfarm, machine data can be combined with other data sources (such as satellite, contour maps, types of soil) for analysis purposes.
• All relevant data is then converted to clear recommendations.

Jacob van den Borne, a farmer from Reusel (The Netherlands), is one of the driving forces behind this link.

Jacob van den Borne:

“When harvesting I do not have time to manually enter the data originating from our AVR Pumas. As the data is now automatically collected by AVR Connect and Cloudfarm, I can closely monitor the differences within the parcel. I mainly check whether the yield data corresponds to other growing season data and the previously taken precision measures.”

A word from the developers

Koen Uyttenhove (IOT Manager AVR):

“To be able to meet all challenges, farmers need data to make sound decisions. As today neither the farmer nor the machine manufacturer or other suppliers have all the data, collaborations as the one with Dacom are crucial to be able to present an overall picture and reap the benefits of these linked data.”

Erik-Jan Blanksma (Lead Developer Cloudfarm):

“Progressive farmers often share their ideas with us, as was the case for Cloudfarm. This platform collects as-applied field data from several machines, turns it into insightful information and uses it as a base for task cards.”

Koen Uyttenhove:

“Together with Dacom we want to stimulate farmers to create fields and use collectible data to optimize their yields.”

Practical information

This package is available as an option on the AVR potato harvesters Puma 3, Puma 4.0 and Ceres 440. You can contact your local dealer or AVR Sales Representative for details.

A Cloudfarm subscription starts at 25 EUR per month. Please contact Dacom for details.