OSU's Farm Science Review

The Farm Science Review is a really neat event OSU does every year. I have never been to it before, though. Since I am wanting to get in to the Agricultural industry (specifically John Deere AMS) I figured I would go and hopefully learn a bit and see the sights as well.

I have been interested in farm equipment since I was really little. I was obsessed with toy tractors. I had everything from plastic toys to die cast tractors (with working steering wheels!) to remote controlled tractors. So the agricultural industry and I go together pretty well. I am starting courses this Fall for a minor in Agricultural Systems Management, with a specialization in equipment.

My main goals going to the FSR were to learn more about AMS and how to get in to the field, and above all, satisfy my childhood desire to sit up in a big (John Deere) tractor!

John Deere had almost every tractor series on display from their small yard lawn tractors all the way up to their king size 9030 4 wheel drives. They did not have any track tractors, though.







This is just about the biggest John Deere tractor out - it is a 9330. This is one that I jumped (I mean "climbed") up in.





It is equipped with duals all the way around and has an articulating frame - the front wheels don't steer, the whole front half of the tractor pivots. There is also a 9030t series with track drive (like tank treads) that does not articulate. Again, none of these were on display. The 8030 series also comes in a track configuration.

Here is the inside view from the cab:



Notice the people's heads on the bottom right of the picture. That should give you an idea of just how high up you sit in this one. Talk about blind spots! I thought driving an F-350 with a two car goose neck trailer was bad. I guess farmers don't have to thread their equipment through as many holes as being on the road, though.

I am sure this is a mock-up of what the GreenStar screen looks like (and for all I know this box is empty with just the picture on the screen). However, it does show what GreenStar does quite well. It is a digital map of your field with a model of the tractor and equipment on the screen (dimensional only, not a "picture"). That way you can see (dimensionally) where you are going (or, where the computer is going hehehe). It is really amazing stuff.



More controls:



They even had a 9770 STS combine on display. This thing is a giant!



View (not much with that building there):



View of the GreenStar display for the combine:



I accomplished both of my goals. I talked to a real nice guy just a bit older than I am at the main John Deere booth for a good 10-15 minutes about AMS and our different backgrounds and education. It was a real interesting conversation.

From what I found out from the John Deere guy there were on-going demonstrations of the AMS technology. There are some fields associated with FSR across the highway (the north side of I70) from the main event. To get there you ride a shuttle - which is a tractor pulling two four wheel farm trailers (like a hay wagon).

Here is a view from the shuttle looking out to the fields down the road:



Here is one side of the field, the picture is blown out a bit (I bumped the camera in to manual mode by accident):



This is the row that they had the AMS systems running in (on the tractors anyway). Here is the StarFire RTK base station that they were using (I think, it was set up and it looks like it was operational!):



Most of what I observed was strip tilling. This is a practice where instead of tilling or cultivating an entire field a farmer will till just the rows that will be planted. The reasoning behind this is that the less implement engaged in the ground the less soil needs to be broken up. Try dragging a shovel through (not over, not scraping, but through) packed dirt and see how hard it is to move it. Now expand that to something that is 15' wide or wider and you can imagine how much power it must take to move it. The smaller amount of soil engaged by the implement the less power (and fuel!) that is needed. In the end it saves money, wear and tear on equipment, and probably time as well.



I had a lot of fun at the Farm Science Review, and I learned a lot as well! I look forward to my courses this coming year and what the rest of the industry has waiting for me when I am done. Next year I will be sure to make it out to the Farm Science Review again!