End-of-season stalk nitrate sensor
AssigneeDeere & Company
InventorsBradley W. Van De Woestyne, Timothy A. Wilcox
Life of this patent
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Abstract
An agricultural machine configured to harvest a crop having stalks includes a main frame and a plurality of wheels supporting the main frame from the ground. A crop header is mounted on the main frame and includes a header frame extending transversely to a forward direction and having a transverse width. The crop header is configured to cut stalks of the crop as the agricultural machine moves in the forward direction. At least one on-the-go nitrate sensor is mounted on the agricultural machine and oriented to collect electromagnetic energy reflected from or emitted by the stalks, the sensor being configured to generate a nitrate level signal representative of a nitrate level in the stalks.
Claims20
An agricultural machine configured to harvest a crop having stalks, comprising:
- a main frame;
- a plurality of wheels or tracks supporting the main frame from a ground surface and configured to drive the agricultural machine in a forward direction to harvest the crop;
- a crop header mounted on the main frame and including a header frame extending transversely to the forward direction and having a transverse width, the crop header being configured to receive stalks of the crop to be cut by the crop header as the agricultural machine moves in the forward direction;
- and
- at least one on-the-go nitrate sensor mounted on the agricultural machine and oriented to collect electromagnetic energy reflected from or emitted by the stalks, the sensor being configured to generate a nitrate level signal representative of a nitrate level in the stalks.
A method of automatically performing an end-of-season stalk nitrate test when harvesting a crop having stalks, comprising:
- harvesting the crop with a crop header including a header frame extending transversely to a forward harvesting direction, the crop header being configured to cut stalks of the crop as the agricultural machine moves in the forward harvesting direction;
- collecting electromagnetic energy reflected from or emitted by the stalks with at least one on-the-go nitrate sensor;
- and
- generating a nitrate level signal with the at least one on-the-go nitrate sensor representative of a nitrate level in the stalks.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.