"August-Agro" continues to introduce precision farming technologies to save resources
During 2022, August-Agro Management Company equipped agricultural machines on its farms in the Republic of Tatarstan with fuel level sensors with an automated alarm for responsible persons. The main effect of the digital innovation was the reduction in the consumption rates of fuels and lubricants on trucks: for example, in 2021, the average fuel consumption on KamAZ trucks of August-Agro agricultural firms amounted to 52.7 liters per 100 km, and in 2022 - already 49.3 liters, that is, 6.5% less. On the scale of the Tatarstan agricultural business of the company "August" (more than 190 thousand hectares of arable land), the savings are very significant. Fuel sensors help determine the amount of fuel required for operation with maximum accuracy in advance and avoid the risk of fuel drains.
To date, 50% of harvesters of Avgust-Agro Management Company and 100% of other agricultural equipment (sprayers, KamAZ trucks, tractors, etc.) are equipped with fuel level sensors. By 2023, it is planned to equip the remaining equipment. The domestic contractor is responsible for installing the equipment on agricultural machines and setting up the software. According to the specialists of "August-Agro", in comparison with the previous year, with comparable volumes of agricultural work, the average annual fuel consumption has decreased. Together with the Avgust-Agro security service, an automated accounting system was developed that records the change in the fuel level as a diagram. In case of a sharp drop, a notification is sent to the responsible specialists using a telegram bot. If the fuel level has changed due to the unfortunate location of the equipment on the terrain, then this information is also recorded during stabilization, which allows minimizing “false alarms”. Primary fuel metering is carried out through its own gas station with a card system, where each unit of agricultural machinery has its own fuel card, and all movement and write-off of fuel and lubricants are controlled.
“Precision farming technologies are already helping to change the approach to agricultural production. The data from fuel level sensors make it possible to analyze its consumption for the entire time of work and obtain much more accurate indicators, - says Aidar Galyautdinov, General Director of the management company "August-Agro".
Such an approach - based on constantly incoming data from GPS and other systems - helps, according to experts, to more accurately determine the performance standards for machine operators, eliminating situations where, during initial measurements for supervisors, the performance may be underestimated by the performer in order to obtain more lenient requirements in the future standards.
It is worth noting that during 2022, all Avgust-Agro harvesting equipment was equipped with sensors for the movement of products from the field, which made it possible to record the number of unloadings of the combine into the reloading bunker, which makes it possible to see the distribution of grain tonnage among the combines.
Also, farms of the management company "August-Agro" have developed standard traffic routes for equipment that are optimal for agricultural work, and if they deviate from them, the management of agricultural firms can receive urgent information about this, which also helps save time and production resources. Based on the dynamics of movement on the basis of constantly incoming GPS data, it is possible to identify issues that need to be addressed - for example, the idle time of transfer bunkers in queues at grain receiving points when unloading products. Control in this area prevents downtime of combine harvesters, which, without freight transport, will have nowhere to unload the harvested grain, causing great damage to the economy of the enterprise. During 2023, it is planned to equip all harvesting and transport equipment, as well as the necessary infrastructure with a set of identification marks, in order to build a system for tracking the movement of full-cycle products - from the field to the grain acceptance point.