Performance Evaluation of Hay Yield Monitoring System in Large Rectangular Baler

Yield monitoring is one of the most important operations for efficient management of agricultural fields. One of the common methods used to monitor hay yield variability is to monitor the hay mass flow rate inside the baler chamber during hay baling process.Therefore, this study on a 10 ha field was conducted to investigate the performance of a hay mass flow monitoring system mounted on a large rectangular baler in estimating alfalfa hay yield. The monitoring system was used to monitor alfalfa hay yield at different baler settings (baler chamber pressure values of 5000, 6000 and 7000 kPa and forward speed values of 4, 8 and 12 km/h) that affected bale density, hence, yield monitor data accuracy. Data from the monitoring system was utilized to generate a georeferenced yield data points that were compared, for calibration purposes, to an actual georeferenced alfalfa hay yield data points. The actual hay yield was obtained by physically weighing the hay bales out of the study area. Results revealed that bale density was mostly affected by baler chamber pressure and high levels of forward speed. Alfalfa hay bale density was found to be correlated to the chamber pressure. On the average, bale densities of 181.3, 171.6 and 168.9 kg/m were obtained at baler chamber pressure of 7000, 3 6000 and 5000 kPa, respectively. The monitoring system exhibited a good performance in hay yield estimation at different baler working conditions with an average R value of 0.87 for the relation between monitor-estimated 2