“Hindsight is 20/20” is a phrase what we’ve all used. If we’re using our precision technology in the tractor cab, however, it’s a phrase that we shouldn’t have to use at planting time.
The Climate Fieldview™ (CFV) Cab App allows you to see everything that’s happening during planting, so you can decrease the number of issues you will have to re-live during harvest. Having Climate FieldView software in the cab is so beneficial. On most monitors, you can typically see planting population, seed spacing, doubles and skips, and downforce. Depending on your planter and planter monitor, you may see a few more or a few less diagnostic readouts. The one thing missing is the map unless you have CFV’s Cab App.
Using the CFV Cab App, you can see different readouts in a map form on an iPad. It’s extremely helpful to see color changes, but the CFV Cab App has much more power and function than just a few color maps. For those of us who like to analyze in real-time to make sure we’re making the most of the current planting season, a planting summary
report shows how many acres of each hybrid or variety has been planted. It also tells you the number of acres you have planted, so you can calculate the amount of seed needed to finish that field.
Another benefit of the CVF Cab App is that you can drop a pin in a spot where you noticed a tile blowout or a hard spot in the field that needs some extra tillage next fall. You can also create on-farm tests on the fly with the Cab App. You may see a spot in the field that you want to monitor; simply draw a “field region” polygon around that spot. You’ll get yield analysis specifically within that area, so you can watch it throughout the season.
Also remember to input starter fertilizer or seed treatments in the CVF Cab App. If you’re applying a little extra, track those areas and see if you get a return. You also can map seed treatments that were applied to each variety/hybrid. On the starter fertilizer side, the CFV platform allows you to write a variable rate starter fertilizer prescription to match various populations within a field.
One final valuable feature of the CFV Cab App that I’ll cover here is the ability to send a summary or quick report with a map. You can send a map to your crop adviser or your landlord to keep them updated and/or engaged in what you’re doing. You even have the ability for a split-screen view, so you can place a soil map next to your population map. Doing so may help you make changes on the fly.
There are more valuable features in the CFV Cab App than I can mention in one article. If this is something that could benefit your operation or your customers’ operations, give me a call. I’ll gladly sit down and look at how the CFV Cab App could be used to benefit your particular situation and operation.