Installs and Coveralls

Back up north, we met another grower and introduced him to the harvest yield monitor system.  He's a great guy who works with his dad and a hired hand.  A much smaller operation, it had the feel of a family farm in the midwest.  His dad was great--hard to come by a technology enthusiast of 70 years.  Anyway, the planned harvesting was cancelled due to rain, so we set up shop to get the install done. 

 Getting out the tools.

I would just like announce, that I now own a pair of those extremely fashionable coveralls Jonathan and Justin are modeling in the photo above.  Along with a very classy set of steel toe boots.  Oh yeah!

Farther north the scenery isn't quite as dramatic.  There are still rolling hills of farmland, but not so many tall mountains in the background.  Still, it's quite a view.  

From the top of the combine looking over the farmyard.

Jonathan did the install by himself, Justin was only there for guidance.

That was Wednesday.  Yesterday, Thursday, Jonathan and I went a few hours south again to do another install on the same grower's second combine.  I was supposed to be Jonathan's assistant, but it ended up that I spent all day in the office playing agronomist.  Lindy, the farm's professional agronomist needed some field maps printed, and since the current software is painfully tedious, I could help her out by doing the grunt work.  

Once again holed up in an office with a computer all day.

What happened is that through many frustrating hours of working my way around FarmWorks, I realized what a fantastic thing Precision's new product is bringing to farm data.  FieldView will be much easier to use.  No more clicking through 16 screens, scrolling through data files, waiting for the information to upload.  There, that's my shameless plug for Precision's new product (what we're testing, getting it ready for production).  

There were plenty of obstacles Jonathan had to overcome with the install--that's the name of the game and why he's an engineer--so it was late before we left the farm.  We faced a 2 hour drive yet, with a stop to unload gear and equipment.  We were tired.  But it was Valentine's Day!  So we picked up some takeaway Thai food and found a quiet little rose garden park where we enjoyed our romantic dinner as the sun set.  Not too bad!

Today, being the last day, is a full one.  We were up early, the guys doing some troubleshooting to get one the iPad's working.  We got the car cleaned out, found a place for the rubbish (we had quite a lot from the 7 boxes of equipment we brought with us!), and headed out to the field for some test runs.  

It's hard to believe it's been a week, and yet looking at all we did, it seems much longer than a week!  We're hoping for a much less-exciting airport scenario, a smooth flight, and an enjoyable weekend at the beach cottage!  We're looking forward to some processing time, and also more preparation.  Up next: Argentina!