The FarmTRX Moisture Sensor is an integral part of the FarmTRX yield mapping solution.
Born out of years of research and development in the lab and on-the-farm in Saskatchewan, Canada, the FarmTRX Moisture Sensor offers farmers reliable moisture sensor readings, live-in-the-cab, while harvesting. It also allows farmers to better understand the dry (market) moisture value of their yield.
The Moisture Sensor extends the FarmTRX Yield Monitor system to create cleaned, calibrated yield and moisture maps at an accessible price point for farmers at all levels – small or big, with new equipment or older.
How Does It Work?
The FarmTRX Moisture Sensor has no moving parts and is installed by the user in a matter of hours at the bottom of the combine’s clean grain elevator. Grain flowing over the Moisture Sensor generates changes in the electric field, depending on how much moisture is held within the grain. The sensor measures these electrical field fluctuations and sends the raw moisture data to the FarmTRX Yield Monitor installed in the cab of the combine where it is converted to moisture values based on crop-specific equations. In combination with FarmTRX yield data, the moisture readings are uploaded, filtered, and cleaned to create high-quality yield and moisture maps you can view and share online.
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The Design Advantages of the FarmTRX Moisture Sensor
We set out to manufacture a sensor that offered consistent and dependable grain moisture readings at an accessible price. The development of a unit that does not rely on complicated mechanisms (e.g., extract grain, take measurements, return it to the elevator) offers growers a reliable and faster reacting solution for monitoring changes in grain moisture content.
A design with no moving parts means the sensor must be installed in a location where grain flow, although consistent, is often turbulent and somewhat unpredictable. Achieving an electric field measuring device with the right combination of sensitivity, penetration, stability, and reliability took two years of testing and hundreds of design models. The final design features a rugged ceramic sensor face and a robust stainless-steel flange that is built to last for years. Like all sensors, the surface must be clean to achieve good results. Therefore, it’s important to determine where on the bottom hatch door you should install the Moisture Sensor. For most crops, that location is just off the centre line, or “about 7:00 pm” if the plumb line is 6:00 pm. (See diagram on the left below.) Â
However, some crops, including soybeans and corn harvested in wet conditions, tend to bring in more mud and debris that can build up over time and cover the sensor. If you harvest mostly soybeans it’s prudent to adjust the installation location up a bit further, towards “8:00 pm,” on the hatch door, to ensure the Moisture Sensor’s face remains clear. (See diagram on the right below.)
The Moisture Sensor firmware can be updated easily by the user over-the-air, allowing growers to buy and install just once and enjoy performance advancements for years.
What Does The Moisture Sensor Offer Growers?
The FarmTRX Moisture Sensor not only enables better in-field decision-making, but provides extra insight to your agronomic strategy for next season, rounding out one of the market’s most competitive yield monitoring systems available.
What is the standalone version of the FarmTRX Moisture Sensor?Â
The standard version of the FarmTRX Moisture Sensor is designed to be installed and used on the clean grain elevator on any combine harvester. FarmTRX also offers a standalone version of the FarmTRX Moisture Sensor that can be installed on grain carts, silos, or other ag tech machinery that sees a steady flow of grains. When it is integrated as an OEM part into 3rd party equipment, the FarmTRX Moisture Sensor can show live moisture readings on any CANbus- or ISOBUS-compatible display, the FarmTRX Moisture mobile app, and sync data via Bluetooth®.
