Residue monitoring and residue-based control

A method performed by an agricultural machine that performs a ground engaging operation when traveling in a travel direction, the method comprising:

• generating a first forward zone signal that is indicative of, as a first forward zone, a first portion of ground ahead of the agriculture machine relative to the travel direction;
• generating a second forward zone signal that is indicative of as a second forward zone, a second portion of ground ahead of the agriculture machine relative to the travel direction;
• sensing, with one or more forward sensor, an amount of residue in the first forward zone and an amount of residue in the second forward zone;
• generating, with the one or more forward sensors, sensor data indicative of the amount of residue in the first forward zone and the amount of residue in the second forward zone;
• and
• receiving the sensor data and generating based on the sensor data, both a first residue metric indicative of the amount of residue in the first forward zone and a second residue metric indicative of the amount of residue in the second forward zone;
• and
• controlling a set of ground engaging elements to perform the ground engaging operation based, at least in part, on the first residue metric and the second residue metric.

An agricultural machine comprising:

• a set of ground engaging elements configured to perform a ground engaging operation as the agricultural machine travels in a travel direction;
• a controllable subsystem configured to control the set of ground engaging elements to perform the ground engaging operation;
• a forward sensor configured to sense an area of ground ahead of the agricultural machine, relative to the travel direction, and to generate a forward sensor signal;
• one or more processors;
• and
• memory storing computer executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform steps comprising:
• determining a first zone and a second zone, wherein the first zone and the second zone represent different portions of the area of ground ahead of the agricultural machine;
• determining a first residue metric indicative of an amount of residue in the first zone based on the forward sensor signal;
• and
• controlling the controllable subsystem to control the set of ground engaging elements to perform the ground engaging operation based at least in part on the first residue metric.