AMS News Letter Shearer Equipment Quarterly AMS News Summer 2017 Inside this issue: New John Deere Gen 4, 4640 Display 2 JDLink Reminders 4 5 2017 Test Plot Overview 17-1 Software Update Information 7 Rate Controller 2000 7 MyEquip Reminder 8 Have a topic you d like to see in our newsletter? Let us know: send us an e-mail suggestion, addresses are below. This is a photo is a great example of what a new John Deere ExactEmerge planter can do when paired with a Section Control activation. For more information, contact us Today! In this Issue: John Deere s new Display Shearer Equipment s 2017 Test Plot Information on the 17-1 Software update Visit our website or like us on Facebook for up to date information!!
Page 2 New Display Summer 2017 As many of you have probably heard, John Deere has recently released information on their new stand-alone display, the John Deere 4640 Universal Display. While there certainly are some new and exciting features with this display, it might not be time to throw out your 2630s just yet. There are some capabilities that the 2630 can do that this new display can t quite do yet. While these features are in the works to be added, they are not available just yet. Some of these capabilities include AutoTrac Rowsense, Machine Sync, and several other features. There are a few new features available with this display as well. Probably the most obvious one is the addition of a power button on the back of the display. This will allow you to shut off the display when not in use, such as in transport. This also allows you to perform a cold boot on the display without shutting the machine down as opposed to how the machine needs to turned off completely to perform a cold boot. This new display also operates slightly differently when it comes to Wireless Data Transfer. Previously, the 2630 display would transfer data in a whole field format. With John Deere s new 4640 display, the Wireless Data Transfer will transfer data in a more real -time, incremental format. This allows more accurate record keeping of progress done in the field in the Operations Center for situations like when you get rained out in the middle of a field. The other big change is how the activations are handled. With the previous displays, the activation was a one-time fee. The activation was purchased and it would not expire. Along with it not expiring, you could also transfer these activations and therefore spread your investment between different displays or machines. We saw one change with the Gen 4, 4100/4600 CommandCenter displays in terms of the activations being non-transferrable once they were activated on the display itself. The same applies with this new 4640 display. These activations are non-transferrable as well. The major change, however, is that the activations are now subscription based. With the lower cost of the hardware, the 4640, and the lower priced, subscription based activations, you can have a lower upfront cost of an AMS display when compared to a new 2630 with activations. With this display not being a complete replacement for the 2630, the 4640 might not be an option yet for all operations. However; if you are looking to upgrade your planter to a MY18 planter with electric drives, you will need to have either Gen 4 CommandCenter or a Gen 4, 4640 display. The new SeedStar Controllers require the more powerful processors that are in these new Gen 4 displays, which is why the GS2/3 displays are not compatible with the new MY18, electric drive planters. This would include the ExactEmerge planters as well as the planters the MaxEmerge 5e row units.
Page 3 New Display Summer 2017 John Deere is continuing to be on the cutting edge of the ever-changing technology aspect of agriculture. This is evident with the progress they are making in their high-tech machines and new AMS products. But even though they are continuing to make changes on the forefront of the industry, they are not abandoning the previous display, the 2630. The 2630s and all their activations are still working and we have not heard any dates as to when it will not be supported. If you have any further questions as to if this new display would be a fit for your operation, please contact your Salesman!
Page 4 JDLink Offers / Data Help Summer 2017 More great offers from Shearer Equipment & John Deere JDLink Connect JDLink Connect subscription includes JDLink Ultimate functions PLUS Remote Display Access AND Wiresless Data Transfer with the purchase of an Ethernet cable! You can now sync your subscriptions for easy year to year renewals Tiered pricing allows you to save money by equipping additional units in your fleet with JDLink Connect! Discounts start at just two machines! JDLink Access + RDA With the purchase of an Ethernet cable, the machine will have Remote Display Access capabilities Allows the service desk to receive essential diagnostic information via Alerts and Service Advisor Remote Available Free of charge to machines with 3G terminals A low cost option to monitor basic machine performance for those machines that have expired subscriptions If you are unsure if your machine qualifies, contact your AMS Specialist today! MyJohnDeere.com If you have not yet validated your MyJohnDeere.com account please do so as soon as possible. This will be your one stop resource for many John Deere applications. Visit MyJohnDeere.com today to verify your account and update your profile. Have Data, Need Help? Let our AMS Specialists help you upload your planting & harvest data from your thumb drives or APEX into MyJohnDeere.com. We can take the hassle out of organizing and cleaning up your data by stepping you through the process or handling the transition of information for you. Inquire today and let us take care of the busy work!
Page 5 Software Updates/New Features Spring 2016 Page 5 2017 Test Plot Summer 2017 2017 Planter Vacuum Level Test Plot To try and demonstrate more value to you as the customer, we decided to put out a small-scale test plot with the goal of demonstrating what kind of a stand that a planter with incorrect settings might create. We are not trying to create any sort of scientific breakthrough; we are simply trying to recreate a scenario that a typical farmer might run into if his planter is not set to the optimal settings. For our first attempt, we decided to keep it simple with one or two settings that might be clear as an issue when the crop emerges as well as when the crop is harvested. The initial thought was that we would change the planter s settings from the ideal downforce and vacuum settings to a setting that is not as optimal and then observe our results. We put in our test plot, in conjunction with Reeves Farms in Alexandria, Ohio, on 22 April on a dreary, cool Saturday afternoon. We used Pioneer P0843AM, LibertyLink and RoundUp ready corn throughout our trial. The field had been hit with a VT tool in the fall as well as a disk and crumbler in the spring to create a seedbed that was very well broken down and smooth. The initial thought was to change the downforce margins as well as the vacuum settings to create a superbly awful stand. However; the combination of how well this field had been worked as well as the somewhat slower planting speed involved, we decided to change the variables in our test. To measure the accuracy of the emerged corn, we used a calculation from John Deere to calculate the Coefficient of Variance or CoV. This CoV number can be thought of as a standard deviation number for the spacing of the emerged plants. This involves taking a 100-foot engineers tape, and recording the distance measurement of every emerged plant in a random row. (For accurate representation, it is recommended to take three of these 100 ft measurements for each stand you are trying to evaluate.) Once we had these measurements, we would enter them into a spreadsheet that Deere provided, that would then calculate a CoV number for us. For a planter to be within spec from Deere, it is stated that a CoV of 0.33 or below is desired. As a reference, we conducted this measurement on the control section of the test plot and we calculated a CoV of 0.20. Since our test plot is in a field that had several passes planted when the planter was already running at optimal performance, we did not plant separate control passes. The first plot we planted, our Eastern plot, we changed the vacuum pressure from 17 in H2O, to roughly 25 in H2O. With the speed we were traveling (3 MPH) we did not notice any huge issues on the planter monitor page as a result of this change. The CoV of this stand was 0.27, so slightly off from the control, which makes sense with our planter settings having been changed. The next plot we planted, our Center plot, we went the opposite direction and dropped the vacuum pressure from the optimal 17 in H2O down to a dismal 7 in H2O. With this plot, we noticed a slight change in the planter monitor, however; the speed and field conditions provided somewhat of a buffer for these conditions so we did not see a huge change. The calculated CoV of this stand was just slightly worse, coming in at 0.33. Once the corn had emerged and was in
Page Page 6 6 Software2017 Updates/New Test Plot Features Spring 2016 Summer 2017 the V2-V4 stage where we could see a lot of the plot, we could notice a visual difference between the control stand and the Center Stand. For the Western plot, we left the planter vacuum set at 7 in H2O, but since we figured the downforce wouldn t be too much of a factor with the field conditions as they were, we decided to change the planting speed instead. The other plots were planted in the 3-3.2 MPH range, and for our last test, we bumped that speed up to 5 MPH. This would have had a much greater effect had we been in a no-till field or in a field that had not been worked over as well. This would affect the row unit ride quality. Poor ride quality in a low vacuum situation would negatively affect the row unit being able to have seed stick to the seed plate because the vacuum is not powerful enough in a less stable environment that is created by a poor ride quality situation. We did the CoV calculations for this stand as well and ended up with a 0.39 CoV, which isn t too terrible, all things considered, but it is significantly different from the control CoV. One thing to keep in mind however is that this CoV is taking measurements at each emerged plant. This brings to light that every skip is not necessarily a planter malfunction, it could mean that the seed failed to emerge instead. This could obviously be caused by several factors including poor seed germination rates or an inhospitable growing environment that could include excess moisture or pest pressures. After we conducted the CoV measurements, I went back and dug some of those skips that we found throughout all the plots. I randomly picked these skips and out of the ten skips I picked, I did find one rotten seed. It appeared to have initially germinated but it was drowned out shortly afterwards. Within a week or two after planting this plot, that area received several inches of rain in a short period so I am not surprised that a few seeds, that could ve germinated late, were drowned out. What is our end goal of this test plot? Our end goal is to put a physical demonstration of improper planter setup out in a place where people can see it. A PowerPoint can only show so much, a physical representation, for those guys that are visual learners, is the goal with this test plot. Keep an eye on your emails for the results of this plot later this fall!
Page 7 Software 17-1 Software Updates/New Information Features Summer Spring 2016 2017 17-1 Software Update Release Notes While there were a few updates and resolved issues with the new software updates this spring, there were not any major changes of note. The updates listed above were the new features added with the 17-1 update for the GS3 2630 Display. As in the past, there were no new updates for the GS2 2600 displays. When it came to the receivers, both the SF3000 and the SF6000, there weren t any new remarkable features either. The biggest update for the SF6000 had to do with being able to utilize the new 4G JDLink terminals for Mobile RTK, which is not available in our area at this time. Since the initial release of this software update earlier this year, a glitch has been uncovered. It is not anything that is operation crippling but it is somewhat essential to documentation. It has been discovered that the 17-1 Software update on the 2630 display can cause the grey Implement Width bar to disappear. If you have updated your display to this current software version and have seen this issue, please contact us to get this issue resolved. Deere has released a patch software that we can install that will resolve this issue.
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