Simultaneous assessment of cotton yield monitors

The most essential component of precision farming is the yield monitor - a sensor or group of sensors installed on harvesting equipment that dynamically measures spatial yield variability. Yield maps, which are produced with data from yield monitors, are extremely useful in providing a visual image to clearly show the variability of yield across a field. In response to the demand for a reliable and accurate cotton yield monitor, several have recently become commercially available. We assessed the AgLeader, Agri-Plan, FarmScan, and Micro-Trak cotton yield monitors in southern Georgia for five harvest seasons from 1997 to 2001. During 2001 we also assessed a prototype yield monitor. Each year, two or more yield monitors were mounted on a cotton harvester and were used during the harvest of several farmer-owned and managed fields. The accuracy of each yield monitor was tested by comparing the weight of each harvested load to data produced by the yield monitor. Yield maps from each yield monitor were also produced with the respective software packages and compared. Features of the monitors were also compared. Each of the cotton yield monitoring systems we assessed has something to offer a user interested in creating yield maps. All are capable of producing an adequate yield map provided the system is properly calibrated, operated, and maintained.