This Season in History: Ag Leader Yield Monitors
Let’s go back to the early 1990’s. Fall harvest has begun and as you make your way across the field, you are anxious to see how it’s yielding. With the wagon full, you run it across the scale to start calculating your yield estimates. Move forward to 1992, and Ag Leader’s groundbreaking technology forever changes the way yields are tracked.
The industry’s first yield monitor was released by Ag Leader in 1992; the Yield Monitor 2000™. It featured a simple screen and tracked average moisture percent, total weight, total bushels, and average bushels per acre. These numbers could be calculated for the entire field, or be broken down by load or even combine pass.
We began selling the YM 2000™ in 1996, and it quickly became popular with growers. Additionally, we ran several promotions pairing the yield monitor with a GPS system. GPS allowed growers to see a yield map and visualize the yield variance across the field.
With the help of our Ag Leader sales rep, our salespeople quickly became experts on the product. For several years, we hosted an annual training event for the YM 2000™, which always had a great turnout from growers. Area farmers were excited about the new technology. They could make more accurate management decisions based on pH, weed control, tile drainage, and more. The Ag Leader technology changed the way we did business as well. This not only allowed us to break into the precision agriculture arena from an equipment standpoint but we elevated our advisory role for customers, making recommendations from the yield maps.
Ag Leader and their YM 2000™ paved the way for today’s monitors and overall precision technology. Satellite imagery, variable rate, auto-steer, and more are common tools seen across the industry today. For us, the yield monitor has also guided the transition to analytical agronomy software, including our ProVantage program. This technology has come a long way and will continue to grow and develop. Our ultimate goal is to help you increase efficiency while reducing risks and costs. We look forward to continuing this technological journey with you.