Yield monitor manufacturers appear to have made significant progress in improving accuracy in the 1997 versions of their products. Introduction Grain yield monitors have become more and more popular throughout the Corn Belt of the United States and Canada, more than doubling in usage each year for the past 3-4 years. It is estimated that nearly 20,000 yield monitors of all brands will be in use during the 1997 harvest season. This trend of dramatic increases in yield monitor usage is expected to continue. In the simplest sense, farmers use yield monitors to estimate grain yield and overall profitability in fields or areas within fields.
Growers can also evaluate grain yield variability due to spatial differences in a field.
However, even without a GPS receiver, a yield monitor can be used to evaluate the performance of hybrids or varieties planted in side x side strip trials. Grain yield monitor. Pioneer Weigh Wagon Historically, calibrated weigh wagons and portable moisture meters have been used in the seed industry to measure grain weight and estimate grain moisture of strip plot entries. Yield monitors may be able to obtain the same information since they also estimate grain weight and moisture of the harvested area. The question for many is whether or not yield monitors can attain the same level of accuracy and precision that is currently attributed to the weigh wagon for obtaining reliable yield data from field-scale strip tests.