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Technology tool

Like Ed and Linda’s children, who were teenagers in the 1990s, the new technology has matured into an integral and necessary part of the farm.

Brenda Beehler, their daughter, has become the farm’s part-time bookkeeper. Joe Leininger, Brenda’s younger brother, does all the spraying. A close friend, Chad Rink, also has grown up and become part of the farming operation.

“Brenda handles all the GPS and mapping,” Ed says. Brenda began integrating the big database of GPS information with detailed tracking of field production and mapping when she became an official part of the farm management in 1999.

“She has taken our bookkeeping beyond the basics,” Ed says. Brenda’s older brother, Jeff, works in veterinary sales and has assisted in making various kinds of software work together. The family also has been supported with Variable Rate Technology (VRT) from their farm supply dealer.

Using GPS information, Brenda Beehler overlaps maps of yield information with soil test results to formulate a variable rate prescription map for fertilizer application.

The changes were necessary, in part, because the farm was growing. The Leiningers have 176 fields to manage. Typical field size is 30 acres, but they range from 240 acres to as small as two acres. “We manage them with maps, and each one is treated separately,” Ed says. “We’ve been using the GPS year-round on almost all our operations for the last two or three years.” One of the Leininger’s New Holland combines is equipped with an Ag Leader GPS system. Retired schoolteacher Larry Stamm and farmer Tom Kelley operate the combines. “They run side-by-side, and everything’s unloaded on the go into a grain cart,” Ed says. “We have a scale on the cart so Chad can keep track of everything. We know which truck carried it to the bins; we know what goes into which bin.” Brenda puts all the field notes on the computer where she keeps a perfect inventory record.

Meanwhile, she overlaps maps of yield information along with soil test results for each field. A series of variable rate prescription maps emerge for fertilizer application next spring.

The Leiningers have their own self-propelled Big A fertilizer spreader that carries about nine tons of product. They move the GPS receiver into the spreader, add a light bar for guidance, and follow the prescription across the whole farm.

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Seeding accuracy

For seeding, they move the GPS and light bar into their New Holland tractor. Joe or Chad plants the 15-inch soybean rows, with a 30-ft. air seeder, without using foam. Ed describes the results as perfect, without overlaps. Ed, using a second New Holland tractor, plants the 30-inch corn rows simultaneously, without the aid of GPS.

After seeding, they move the GPS and light bar into a self-propelled sprayer. Joe does post-emerge applications on the soybeans, when they’re 6- to 8-inches tall, without foam.

Moving the GPS and light bar from machine to machine is “pretty simple.” Ed says, “We can have one machine set up for it in about half an hour.”

The light bar, added to the system in 1999, paid for itself the first year. It “cut off” the over-lapping issues.

“It’s more accurate than foam. We always had to overlap a little to be sure we had coverage. We saved enough in chemicals and foam to pay for it in the first year,” he says.

It’s also much easier to drive without markers, just following the light bar lights because foam would disappear in the corn stalks and in the emerging canopy of beans. Joe may do a return spray trip to catch weed patches. At this point, he finds the patches by sight, rather than using GPS. However, the system is tied into his spray monitor and recording continually. Each spot spray application is recorded. “It tells us what he sprayed and where he sprayed, so we have a full record of what was done with that particular sprayer load.”

Chad Rink, Joe Leininger and Ed Leininger work together on the Leininger’s 4,600 acre farm in Mishawaka, Indiana.

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Fertilizer applications

The biggest gain from the technology tool, Ed says, appears to be connected with the variable rate fertilizer applications.

“We had three dry years in a row, so it’s pretty hard to say anything for sure about yields, but it looks like our yields are coming up because the corn’s not stressed. It’s got to be better.

“If the corn’s not stressed when it’s waist-high, it’s got to yield better than it was. Before, you might have a yellow spot in the corn for some reason. Now, the fertilizer is put where it’s needed. It’s taken the bad spots out of the fields.”

Ed also appreciates the technology in his New Holland combines.

“Because of the New Holland combine, the quality of our grain is better than it was.” Samples are cleaner and have less damage.

In corn, the New Holland Twin Rotor® combines do a cleaner job of shelling without cracking the kernels or putting foreign material in the hopper. When the moisture changes, or varieties change, he notes, “the variation isn’t as critical as in a conventional combine.”

Old country roads in the area now carry a heavy load of urban traffic. Ed does whatever he can to avoid or reduce equipment travel-time on roads during commuter rush hours. That’s another reason he likes New Holland combines.

“They’re easy to drive. It seems like they’re easier to get around with. They’re not as big and bulky as some of the other combines on the market.”