Development and Testing of an Impact Plate Yield Monitor for Peanuts

Abstract

<abstract> <bold>Abstract.</bold> Advancements in precision agriculture technologies such as yield monitors have allowed for improved management capabilities and reduced input costs for a number of crops. Most commercialized developments in yield monitoring systems and technologies to date have been directed for use with the major grain crops such as corn, soybeans and cereal grains. This research focuses on development and testing of an impact plate yield monitor system for the peanut harvest. Using a four row peanut combine in virginia type peanuts, 4.8 ha (12 ac) of simultaneous yield data were recorded from an Ag Leader® grain (impact plate) yield monitor and an Ag Leader® cotton (optical) yield monitor. An instrumented cart was used to weigh calibration loads for the two yield monitors tested. Mean absolute error across 10 loads in two fields was 10.2% for the impact plate and 1.54% for the optical yield monitor. Full-season data was not obtained for the impact yield monitor, but mean absolute error for the optical yield monitor across the 2012 harvest season was 9.4%. Regression analyses indicate that use of the two monitors in unison may result in reduced error of the estimate. A large portion of the error calculated for the impact plate yield monitor may be attributable to excessive vibration from the older, straw walker type combine used in this study.