SEGMENT: FARM EQUIPMENT & FARM-RELATED WORK
Roy Harrington>ISM Interviews A-L>ISM Interviews A-L, Segment 13
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- FARM-RELATED WORK
- Use experimental farm to try things out; survey farmers to know their problems, concerns. Product planning department spent time with farmers. Visit dealers to get their ideas.
- FARM EQUIPMENT
- Changes noticed are computerization, GPS systems. Sensors in the combine measure rate of grain coming in converting to bushels per acre. Take out chip to PC and print out colored yield map. Was not the panacea to easy tweaks in the soil. Later learned to adjust rates of fertilization, etc. by GPS. It will also guide you planter row by row. Commercial self-propelled sprayer at 15mph. GPS offsets it the right distance. Hard to believe we can go wider. Have to go on roads and under power lines, too. He works on the 520-acre farm his wife grew up on with new owners. Lots of work getting machinery ready, even though it may be air-conditioned. Farmers still work very hard. He is not pining for the old days. Advises anyone to get a job he likes.
