SEGMENT: FARM EQUIPMENT
Jim Kinsella>ISM Walk & Talk Interviews>Kinsella, Jim, Section 1
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- FARM EQUIPMENT
- The planter has hydraulic blowers and vacuums that get the seed where it needs to be. The planter cost $154,000. They use it about ten days a year. To prevent bugs from resisting the chemicals, they plant 20% of unaltered corn called refuge. There is legislation requiring them to do this, and but some farmers don't. There is a camera and a monitor in the cab so the operator can see what is going on behind him. There is a satellite reciever on top of the cab so they can triangulate there location in the fields.It is also air conditioned. Automatic transmission, cruise control, computers that allow you to plant along your rows. These automations allow the farmer to observe his planter. When he started planting in 1975, he had a four row planter that he had to monitor himself. Now his planter has monitors that check the levels of corn. There are many varieties of soil on his land. The different types of soil dictate what he plants where. He can plant hundreds of acres a day now, as compared to less than a hundred with his original planter. The Smart Boxes allow you to safely apply chemicals to the fields. All these things help improve output and yield. However, it costs a lot of money. They had to decided between buying property or a new planter, and the planter won.
