Soil Compaction Mapping In Real Time

Soil Compaction Mapping In Real Time Terraform Tillage plans to address yield-robbing compaction using real-time sensing. The five-year-old firm is best known for its SmartProbe System, which simplifies compaction mapping. The system includes a free SmartProbe app and a mounting kit ($69.99) to attach a smartphone to a soil penetrometer. “The app is simple,” says Josh Jeske of Terraform Tillage. “You just manually type in the readings as you push the penetrometer into the soil. It creates real-time maps and reports of readings.” The SmartProbe system has gained significant popularity since its introduction in August 2023. Jeske reports that the free app has been downloaded by users in 36 countries and is used in agriculture and agroforestry, as well as in lawn and turf. He uses it to provide a tillage compaction mapping service in his home state of Iowa. “We’re seeing users in developing countries, as well as industrialized countries,” says Jeske. “It’s been used in large fields and by community gardens. We even had a user on a soccer field in Dubai.” Jeske is taking real-time compaction sensing to the next level. The soil entrepreneur has been developing a new system featuring a sensor placed in the coil spring housing of a tillage implement. It has the working name “Tillage Tuner.” “It took us about four years to get to a fully functional prototype,” says Jeske. “We’ve been testing it on our family farm, as well as on some other farms.” The Tillage Tuner delivers real-time soil compaction insights to the operator, enabling precise adjustments to tillage practices. The platform offers data logging, trend analysis and customized reporting. He reports good results and interesting findings, triggering enhancements to the Tillage Tuner before it’s even introduced. “Soil texture and soil moisture have a really big impact on readings,” says Jeske. “We’re now working with a software developer to build out AI to pull in weather data for soil moisture and soil texture data, and combine it with the compaction data. From there, we can output a much stronger variable-rate tillage prescription.” He plans to have the new, smarter prototype ready for field testing this spring. He hopes to pilot the system in the fall, possibly with paying customers. “There will be no acreage cap on how much it’s used,” says Jeske. “It could be used to provide a service to others or just use it on the family farm.” One area he’s particularly interested in is the impact of cover crops on soil compaction. Jeske has been working with Keith and Brian Berns of Green Cover (Vol. 44, No. 4) to evaluate more than 40 cover crop varieties. “We’re using the sensor to learn how cover crops can mellow out the soil at different levels,” says Jeske. “I’ll be sharing what we’ve learned at the No-Till Conference in July.” Jeske isn’t done yet. “We’re working on sensing compaction at multiple depths in a single pass,” he says. “The new system will be able to be mounted on a tillage implement or on the drawbar.” Contact: FARM SHOW Followup, TerraForm Tillage, 1707 21st St., Eldora, Iowa 50627 (ph 641-751-9200; jjeske@terraformtillage.com; www.terraformtillage.com).

To read the rest of this story, download this issue below or click here to register with your account number.