John Deere Combine ActiveYield A Game Changer for KA Hartung Farms

"ActiveYield has proven to be a real benefit for my operation to get improved yield data so I can make better business decisions" - Ken, KA Hartung Farms

Ken Hartung has been around farming his entire life. Over the years, he's watched farming technology evolve and for him, it's offered benefits beyond his bottom line. As the owner of KA Hartung Farms Ltd. near Vulcan, Alberta, agricultural technology has become vital to his operation.

Ken's first John Deere combine was a 9770 which came equipped with integrated John Deere GPS. This allowed him to drive the combine hands-free, reduce arthritic pain and stay in the field. As technology continued to advance, so too did his appetite for combine automation. It started with migrating from a GreenStar Brown Box to a GreenStar 3 2630 display which offered the ability to manage advanced settings for header height control, view yield and moisture maps on the go, and collect detailed data and documentation between seeding and harvest. He soon upgraded from his John Deere 9770 to a John Deere S670 combine, with more advanced features and improved data, so he could make better, real-time decisions.

Recently, Ken and the team at Brandt Vulcan worked together to install the new ActiveYield retrofit kit to his John Deere S670 combine. ActiveYield provides continuous automated calibration of the mass flow sensor through load cells installed in the grain tank. The load cells estimate the change in weight of grain as it fills the tank. These features improve efficiency and save time by eliminating manual calibrations and ultimately, allow operations to harvest more grain each day. Prior to installing the ActiveYield system, Ken had to post-calibrate his yield data with scale tickets, a tedious and time-consuming task.



Now his insurance company receives combine yield and production data, which correspond to his scale tickets from the season. Data documentation makes it easier for farmers to sell grain with confidence and better negotiate insurance claims. When working with landlords, Ken can manage crop shares more effectively and determine exactly how much grain is coming off rented land. This proved difficult in the past, especially if products had to be binned together.

To further streamline his data collection and to improve dealer support, Ken upgraded to a 4G MTG with a JDLink Connect subscription so he could synchronize his data with the John Deere Operations Center. This allows his local Brandt dealer to see real-time machine performance data and ensure equipment is operating at peak performance throughout harvest season. "I appreciate the amount of time and effort Brandt put into helping me get all this technology up and running, and teaching me how to use the features" says Ken. "This is the first time in over 40 years of farming that I feel the dealership is a partner in my operation and not just another business".

The John Deere ActiveYield retrofit kit is suitable for wheat, barley, canola, corn and soybeans, and is available for 2012 and newer S-Series combines from your local Brandt dealer.