Global positioning systems (GPS) are not news, but how they are used in horticulture’s field vegetables is a work in progress. Twelve years ago, Brenn-B Farms started using GPS to improve tillage in herbs and field vegetables.    

“At that time, and still today, there are no weed control products available for herbs,” says Shawn Brenn, who is one of the larger suppliers of herbs to major grocers in Ontario from his Waterdown farm.  “There are no herbicide registrations for herbs and too much labour was going into hoeing.”

GPS systems allowed him to plant herbs in 16-inch rows, then to follow up with a multivator – a power tiller – within one inch of the plant. Mechanical tillage was used once or twice until the herb crop is established and shading the soil. If the mechanical tillage is too frequent, the soil dries out. This advancement saved many hours of labour in his 250 acres of leafy green crops. 

Besides the savings in labour, Brenn began mining the cache of management information that GPS allows in conjunction with farm software programs. Soil fertility and nutrient management are essential to support these finicky crops.  Most of his acreage is rented, so it’s been more important than ever to map the fields for fertility values and to keep accurate spray records. 

“In the early days, farm software programs were oriented to grain farmers, but we’ve been able to customize these programs for the vegetable side,” he says. “It’s not perfect, but we’re better able to manage crop inputs and rotations.”

In addition to herbs, Brenn B Farms is a large potato grower. It’s not unusual for 15 potato varieties to be grown. As GPS has become more advanced, the data files are transferred automatically from field computers to desktop. Variable rate lime and fertilizer are becoming more of a focus on his farm now that they are able to analyze more detailed information from their field computers.

“Corn growers have been able to plant higher plant populations on their best ground and then reduce that number for poorer land,” says Brenn. “We’re now able to make similar calculations for vegetables.”

Brenn is loyal to the Trimble brand of GPS. He’s able to plant potatoes in straight rows and use the same AB line to ensure the hilling process places the hill directly over the center of the potato seed piece. “The seed is planted dead center in the hill, so we don’t have the problem of potatoes emerging from the side and increasing the probability of sunburned potatoes. That’s a bigger problem than many recognize.”

Today, the collected field data helps make important management decisions in regards to crop inputs, costs, time allocations for certain tasks to be completed, weather conditions and elevation maps to assist in tile drainage and managing surface water.          

“We’re able to do a much better job managing our fields and crop rotations,” says Brenn. “You can imagine how much easier it is to colour code by crops, especially with 15 different potato varieties.”

Higher potato yields can’t be attributed to straight rows by simply installing a GPS system, however the ability to fine tune production practices as a result of information captured by this technology can. Brenn is confident in saying that his labour savings and finetuned management processes help pay for the investment. 

The seed is planted dead center in the hill, so we don’t have the problem of potatoes emerging from the side and increasing the probability of sunburned potatoes. That’s a bigger problem than many recognize.

~ SHAWN BRENN