Case Study
A South African family farm in the Western Cape embraces high-precision guidance
3 Minutes Read
Summary
Farming oats, barley and canola can be laborious, fatiguing and less than precise. Learn how a farmer in South Africa delivers efficiencies that improve the yield on his farm with repeatable accuracy while reducing wasted time, energy and resources.Overview
Altus Brooks is a farmer in the Western Cape in South Africa where he dedicates 190 hectares (467 acres) to farming oats, barley and canola. As the fifth generation to run his family’s farm, Brooks and his family implemented a precision farming solution in early 2000. He and his father now use Trimble® CFX-750™ with EZ-Pilot® Assisted Steering System in combination with Trimble CenterPoint® RTX for their high-accuracy precision ag solution.
Improving the ROI on a precision ag system
Seeing the benefits of implementing the Trimble precision ag system, Brooks became interested in how Trimble CenterPoint® RTX correction service could further improve his farming business — specifically around creating year-to-year pass-to-pass consistency, delivering overall efficiencies and improving yield on his farm. Initially, Brooks relied on foam markers to help him stay on track when he was spraying. The work was fatiguing and laborious, requiring up to three passes per row to assure the crops were sprayed.
Sophisticated high-precision farming was not as widespread in the Western Cape, yet Brooks sought out the benefits of year-over-year repeatable high-accuracy GNSS positioning and corrections that CenterPoint RTX provides. Brooks knew that achieving repeatable accuracy would make a significant difference in his work.
Approach
CenterPoint RTX corrections proved to have an immediate impact on quality of life and a reduction in fuel usage. Working with a local dealer, Brooks began a free trial of CenterPoint RTX real-time correction service on his CFX-750 and EZ-Steer solution. The impact was immediate, "spraying without guidance was tiresome, Without it, I had to watch both the field when driving and watch the sprayer screen to see how much product was being applied," Brooks commented.
With the CFX-750, EZ-Steer and CenterPoint RTX correction service, Brooks is now able to focus on the sprayer screen to monitor that the nozzles are spraying correctly. With the auto-steer doing the steering for him, his job in the cab is significantly less strenuous. Trimble’s CenterPoint RTX correction service delivers repeatable and highly accurate GNSS positioning service to within 2.5 cm, and Brooks is now able to easily maintain the same lines in his fields.
With CenterPoint RTX correction service celebrating its 10th anniversary in 2022, Brooks was one of the first customers using Trimble CenterPoint RTX in 2012 for spraying his fields. His father, who is not as tech-savvy, quickly embraced the technology and immediately saw the benefits of high-precision guidance, and its application beyond spraying. As Brooks moved away from using foam markers to maintain his accuracy while spraying, and began to utilize Trimble precision agriculture solution including CenterPoint RTX correction service, he was amazed by both the accuracy of his spraying and the overall impact on him physically.
Brooks shared the challenges he faced, “With the foam markers, I had an overlap of up to half a meter in the fields. And...I was exhausted at the end of the day. The concentration required to drive the tractor and maintain the lines in the field cannot be overstated. CenterPoint RTX correction service delivers accuracy in the fields that isn't humanly impossible to attain without real-time GNSS corrections.”
Additionally, Brooks no longer overlaps to get 100 percent coverage in the field. CenterPoint RTX has reduced his overall fuel usage, and he sees less waste of both herbicide and fertilizer.
Brooks continues, "With CenterPoint RTX, I drive less, so I’m using less fuel and there’s no spray wastage. It is a real saving on fuel consumption and to the bottom line. With the accuracy CenterPoint RTX delivers, I’m able to complete my work faster, and with fewer passes through the field. And in turn, less passes means less fuel."
Greater accuracy leads to less passes in the field and less fatigue for the farmer
In the 10 years of farming with Trimble’s CenterPoint RTX correction service, Brooks relies on the system to accurately steer his tractor in all seasons for all applications. The accuracy it delivers for spraying, fertilizing and tilling is unrivaled. Brooks sees many benefits to using CenterPoint RTX correction service.
Watch the full video below.
