On-the-go soil sensors and control methods for agricultural machines

Abstract

An on-the-go monitor and control means and method for an agriculture machines includes on-the-go soil sensors that can be used to control tillage and seeding depth. On seeder implements, the sensors provide information that affects uniform plant emergence.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A method of monitoring and displaying readings associated with a soil moisture sensor on an agricultural machine as the agricultural machine traverses a field, the method comprising:
 sensing soil moisture data with the soil moisture sensor on the agricultural machine as the agricultural machine traverses the field;   displaying on a display associated with the agricultural machine a representation of soil moisture.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the representation of soil moisture comprises soil moisture as percent content of soil. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the representation of soil moisture comprises a soil moisture range in which the soil moisture falls. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the agricultural machine is an agricultural tillage machine and wherein the soil moisture sensor is mounted on the agricultural machine to measure moisture at a cutting depth of the agricultural tillage machine. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 1  wherein the agricultural machine is an agricultural tillage machine and wherein the method further comprises automatically controlling tillage depth of the agricultural tillage machine using the soil moisture data. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1  further comprising automatically controlling application rate of at least one agricultural input based on the soil moisture data, the at least one agricultural input selected from the set consisting of pesticides, fertilizers, growth regulators, defoliants, and seeds. 
     
     
         7 . A method of monitoring and displaying readings associated with a soil temperature sensor on an agricultural machine as the agricultural machine traverses a field, the method comprising:
 sensing soil temperature data with the soil temperature sensor on the agricultural machine as the agricultural machine traverses the field;   displaying on a display associated with the agricultural machine a representation of soil temperature.   
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the representation of the soil temperature is in degrees Fahrenheit. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the representation of the soil temperature is in degrees Celsius. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the representation of soil temperature is in a range indicator format. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 7  wherein the agricultural machine is an agricultural tillage machine and wherein the soil temperature sensor is mounted on the agricultural machine to measure temperature at a cutting depth of the agricultural tillage machine. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 7  further comprising automatically controlling application rate of at least one agricultural input based on the soil temperature data, the at least one agricultural input selected from the set consisting of pesticides, fertilizers, growth regulators, defoliants, and seeds.