The GPS Crop Yield Monitoring Program involves collecting yield information from reclaimed industrial sites in Alberta, determining the impact on productivity over an extended period of time.

How to particpate
Farmers who have a yield monitor on their combine and a reclaimed industrial site on their land are eligible to participate in this program by contacting their ARECA Association Manager (list of associations here).

What is an industrial site?
An industrial site includes any reclaimed areas such as oil/gas wellsites, battery sites, pipelines, sand/gravel pits or road burrow pits.  Abandoned railway beds and roadways require certification after being reclaimed, but the focus of the program is on oil/gas sites in Alberta.

How large are these industrial sites and what is the time frame for the program?
Most are 100 X 100 metres but the size can vary depending on the size of the site.  Crop yield data can be from the current year's harvest but historical yield data is also appropriate.

How is crop yield data collected?
Once a field has been harvested with the yield monitor, the crop yield data is usually collected on a PMCIA card (about the size of a business card).  The card is slotted into a reader connected to the farmer's office computer.  The data is taken off of the card and can be exported from the office computer to an electronic file using software the farmer received when he/she purchased the crop yield monitoring program.  The electronic file can be emailed to the ARECA office in Sherwood Park or put on a CD-Rom and mailed in.

What do I send in?
With most precision agriculture software, it takes about 15-20 minutes to export the yield data from a field that contains an industrial site.  There is no need to make maps - only the raw data collected from the field is needed for the program.

What's in it for the farmer?
Farmers will be paid for their crop yield information.  This monitoring program is expected to conclude in ten years, so farmers will be asked to sign a guideline to provide their crop data for 5 years providing funding is still available.

ARECA GPS Program Brochure

GPS Crop Yield Monitoring - Program Report (2008)


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