To better help farmers with zone management and making use of variable rate technology, Beck’s released several new FARMserver tools. For more than three years, Beck’s precision farming team continued to research and develop FARMserver’s Management Zone Tool, which now features an option to add field elevation, a new multi-layer tool, an irrigation pivot tool and enhanced test blocks.
The Multi-Layer Tool gives farmers the ability to create management zones with the ability to single out different layers of data. Instead of treating all layers equally, farmers can independently treat the layers. The Multi-Layer Tool offers the flexibility of variable rate technology without all the hassle of having to create complex equations. In addition, the Multi-Layer Tool keeps a history of the different settings so farmers can create the best zones for each field.
“FARMserver is and always will be developed with feedback from our customers in mind,” says Craig Rogers, Beck’s precision farming lead. “Because we understand that farmers know their fields the best, the new tools and features give them the ultimate flexibility when creating management zones.”
As irrigation grows in popularity, users can look at zones inside and outside the irrigation pivot. Users can now easily create an irrigation pivot and adjust the zones to be higher or lower inside and outside the pivot.
Field elevation directly impacts water and productivity. With the addition of the Elevation Tool, farmers can now give the right attention to the right areas of the field.
The Test Block feature offers farmers confidence that they are planting the right population and applying the right amount of nitrogen. The enhanced Test Block function allows farmers to add test blocks to the same exact place, year after year. By consistently using the same location, the data will remain clean and can be used long term.
FARMserver is a secure, online, web-based solution that gives farmers control of their data. In 2015, Beck’s launched the Management Zone Tool in FARMserver that puts the creation of zone management in the hands of farmers. It provides them with the capability to analyze fields on soil type, crop health imaging and historical data, and then create zones to generate variable rate prescriptions for multiple fields at the same time.
