Wheat Harvest: Make Sure to Calibrate your Yield Monitor

By Ricardo Costa

Wheat harvest in Michigan is quickly approaching, and farmers have been working around the clock since planting to minimize their chances of running into any significant issues during such a crucial time. While duties such as fixing parts in winter and weed control in spring get a lot of attention, yield monitor calibration doesn’t always make it to the top of the list of must-do things necessary for increasing profits.

Many farms now have yield monitors. The data collected from a yield monitor can be very informative when determining management operations on each field. However, to make the right decisions, you need to have useful data to work with. Optimizing the use of investment in precision agriculture requires collecting accurate yield monitor data, which requires good setup and calibration practices.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Great Lakes Restoration Initiative Grant and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) are providing funds for farmers located in the Western Lake Erie Basin to get their yield monitors calibrated. Those funds will be available on a first-come, first-serve basis, so start your application as soon as you can. If you decide to work with Michigan State University Extension, allowing us to calibrate your yield monitor, you will be eligible to $5 per acre up to 100 acres.