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The NDSU Extension weekly podcast In the Pod: Soybean Updates delivers timely insights and expert advice on soybean production.
You're listening to In The Pod, soybean updates, a weekly trek into the latest soybean information from NDSU Extension. Farmers are exposed to new technologies every year. So which tech is worth the investment of time and money? Here to talk about the latest harvest technology additions is Tony Kramer, product manager of planting technology at RDO Equipment Company. Tony, what kind of new technologies are available for harvest this season?
Tony Kramer:Yeah, great question. John Deere actually released three brand new technologies this year with the model year 2025 combine. So we came out with harvest settings automation, we have predictive ground speed automation, and we have a new auto unload feature. And just to touch on each one of those real quick, the harvest settings automation. So traditionally we've looked at combines or we've had to adjust five major settings. We have our sieve, our chaffer, our rotor clearance, our concave clearance. We have our rotor speed and our cleaning fan. And it's been up to the operator to make the adjustments for each one based on what they're seeing. Well, now we've gone to just looking at three outcome based settings. So we're looking at grain loss, foreign material, and broken grain. And all the operator has to do is set what we call a limit to what they want to see, and the combine will automatically adjust the five major settings based on those three outcome metrics. So simplifying the optimization of a combine, saving time, not having to worry about or sit there and guess, you know, which of the five major settings do I need to change? Then the predictive ground speed automation. So this one's a really cool one. This one is actually in conjunction with satellite imagery that we get through the John Deere Operations Center. And that satellite imagery looks at crop density and it's generating a predictive yield map essentially. So it's looking at heavy crop area and light crop area, and it will speed up and slow down the combine proactively prior to getting to that. And then in conjunction with the satellite imagery, it also has forward facing cameras up above the cab, right on either side of the cab. These forward facing cameras are looking out 28 feet in front of the header. And what that's doing is it's looking at late season crop conditions. So essentially crop height. So are we dealing with any sort of a lodged crop or a down crop? And it's making adjustments there as well. So traditionally we've had the ability to reactively speed up and slow down the combine based on engine load and rotor pressure. Now we have the ability to proactively adjust the speed of the combine. And then that last one, auto unload, that one's very new to portfolio. Today, we have the combine operator has the ability to move the grain cart forward, backward, in and out with machine sync. And this is now kind of that next step where the combine operator doesn't have to do anything anymore. The combine itself will actually use, again, it's a camera out on the end of the auger, and it will move the grain cart wherever it needs to based on the piling of the crop in the grain cart. So three very cool technologies that are being utilized here in 2025.
Bruce Sundeen:What have you heard from farmers that have used some of these new options?
Tony Kramer:Yeah, so we have a handful of customers through RDO's area of responsibility, and the response has been great. The customers have been utilizing the technology, whether that be harvest settings automation or predictive ground speed automation, And we're seeing upwards of a 20% increase in productivity, getting the crop off quicker, keeping that combine full for cleaner threshing and making it easier on the operator. So the customers that have it this year for this first season of use are absolutely loving it.
Bruce Sundeen:Tony, what about some of the new tech that's yet to come?
Tony Kramer:I would say with everything coming down the pipe from John Deere is gonna be more machine learning, more automation, adding functionality to the machines to take some of the stress off of the operators.
Bruce Sundeen:Thanks, Tony. Our guest has been Tony Kramer, product manager of planting technology at RDL Equipment Company. You're listening to In The Pod, Soybean Updates, a weekly trek into the latest soybean information from NDSU Extension, supported by the North Dakota Soybean Council.