For generations, farming has been a blend of hard work and personal experience. When farmers drive their combine harvester out of the field, they know how much grain they hauled, but do they know exactly where it came from? Was that wet, low spot near the fence line a complete loss, or was that high-ground ridge the real superstar?
The truth is, if farmers don't know the exact performance of every square foot of their fields, they're making crucial decisions—like how much fertilizer to use next year—based on a field-wide average. They're treating their lowest-yielding dirt the same as your highest-yielding dirt. That's a huge waste of money and a missed opportunity for maximizing your harvest.
That's where the FJD AYM Yield Monitoring Solution comes in. It’s the powerful tool farmers can add to their combine to turn guesswork into hard numbers and boost their profitability. But how does this technology actually work? How does a simple sensor mounted on your harvester know precisely how much grain you're picking up? By explaining the core components—especially the optical and moisture sensors—we will demonstrate why this solution is an essential upgrade for harvesting operations.
The Recipe for a Perfect Yield Map: Three Ingredients
The secret to accurate yield monitoring isn't magic; it's the seamless merging of three different data points collected at the same time:
- Grain Flow: How many kernels are moving through the combine at any given moment?
- Moisture Content: What percentage of that flow is water? (Crucial for converting wet weight to dry, saleable weight).
- Position & Area: Where is the combine located, and how wide is the header cutting?
The Eyes of the Combine: How Optical Sensors Measure Every Kernel
Traditional yield monitors used impact plates—metal plates that measured yield by how hard the grain hit them. This system worked, but it was easily affected by vibrations, changing combine settings, and wear and tear.
The AYM system uses modern optical sensors for a far more accurate and reliable measurement. To understand how they work, you first need to know where they are placed: in the clean grain elevator. The clean grain elevator is the vertical channel in your combine that carries the cleaned, threshed grain up from the sieves to the storage tank (the hopper). The grain is moving extremely fast as it's flung up the elevator by paddles or cups.
The optical sensors are mounted right where this high-speed grain is moving. These sensors typically work using light—often infrared beams—to measure the grain's flow. Here's what happens:
- Light array: A precisely calibrated array of light beams or photo-detectors spans the grain path.
- Counting the flow: As the grain rushes past, the individual kernels pass through these light beams.
- Real-time measurement: The sensors record the number and volume of the kernels passing that point in real-time. This method is exceptionally accurate because it's a direct, electronic measurement of the actual grain volume, rather than an indirect measurement based on physical impact.
- Sending the data: This raw flow data is instantly sent to the system's brain, the Yield Monitor Electronic Control Unit (ECU).
The Brains of the Operation: ECU, Moisture, and GPS
The optical sensors provide the flow data, but the system still needs to complete the equation for accurate yield mapping. The central nervous system is the Yield Monitor ECU. This compact box is mounted inside your cab and is the system's calculator. It takes the flow data from the sensors and combines it with two other vital pieces of information:Moisture Data
The moisture sensor measures the grain's moisture content as it passes. Since grain is sold based on a standardized dry weight, the ECU uses the moisture data to convert the "wet" flow reading into an accurate "dry weight" yield value. This conversion is essential for generating trustworthy data.
Speed and Position
This data comes from the dedicated GNSS receiver mounted on the combine's roof. This receiver uses GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System) technology—similar to GPS—to track the combine's position down to centimeter-level accuracy. The ECU uses the combine's precise speed and the preset width of the header to know the exact area being harvested at the moment the yield was measured. By merging the clean, dry grain weight with the precise location and area covered, the system knows the true yield (e.g., bushels per acre) for every spot in the field.
Simple Installation, Powerful Results
One of the greatest benefits of a modern optical system like the FJD AYM system is its simplicity. The installation guide emphasizes that this system can be installed on any combine make or model with a clean grain elevator, and the entire process typically takes only 2 hours by two men.
The system is designed to be highly accessible. Technicians focus on placing the optical sensors correctly within the clean grain elevator—the one consistent component across nearly all combines. This approach means you can spend less time installing and calibrating and more time harvesting.
Once installed, the system sends all that rich, location-specific data straight to the FJD's app on your tablet or smartphone, where it is automatically cleaned up and processed into stunning, easy-to-read yield maps.
Turning Data into Dollars
The FJD AYM system is a powerful profit generator that transforms your combine into a precise data-gathering tool. By shifting away from older, less reliable systems to modern digital optical measurement, farmers get instantly clean, reliable yield maps that show them exactly where every dollar of yield is coming from—and, more importantly, where they're losing it. By harnessing this powerful technology, farmers stop over-applying in low-yield areas and maximize potential in high-yield spots, helping them finally unlock the true profit potential of their farm.
Are you ready to stop guessing and start seeing the map of your farm’s real performance? Reach out to your local FJD dealers or just contact us here: Contact FJDynamics Today