Preparing for harvest? Then there’s no better time than now to think about the list of items you can do in your desktop software before going out in the field. Ag Leader is also thinking harvest by announcing pre-harvest training events for hardware products that are being announced.

Here are a few things you can do to prepare for harvest 2012:

1. Create a backup of your SMS Software and then save that file to an external media device.
After creating the backup on your local hard drive, copy it to an external hard drive or burning it to a CD or DVD. In SMS Basic/SMS Advanced, this can be done by going to Services – Backup/Restore Project(s).

2. Verify that you are running the latest version of SMS.
The latest version of SMS Basic/SMS Advanced is Version 12.0. If you have registered online in the past, you can update by going to Help – Check for Updates.

3. Read in any remaining files from earlier this year.
By reading in any remaining files from this year, this allows you to review the data already logged this year and make sure the data was properly recorded and organized. To read precision ag monitor files into SMS Basic/SMS Advanced, you can go to File – Read Files.

4. Export information out of SMS Software to your precision ag display.
In SMS Basic/SMS Advanced, you can export information by clicking on the Device Setup icon on the main toolbar or by going to Tools – Device Setup Utility.

The Spatial Data Setup tab that is referred to in the video above is used to export not only your Variety Tracking information (i.e. Planting, Seeding, or Site Verification data), but also Guidance Lines, Prescriptions, and Crop Plans as well (ie – 2012 Fertilizer Prescription (Dry), 2008 Guidance Lines, etc).

**Note – SMS Basic/SMS Advanced Version 12.0 can be used to export Variety Tracking information to the following displays: Ag Leader INTEGRA™, Case IH Pro600™, Case IH Pro700™, John Deere GreenStar 2™, John Deere GreenStar 3™, New Holland Intelliview Plus II™, and New Holland Intellivew Plus III™.

5. Load your information in your precision ag display.
Follow your manufacturer’s instruction manual for details as to how to load setup information into your display. If you use an Ag Leader display, you will find some good links about operation and calibration here.

Once you get to the field, read in the files logged by your various displays once a week to ensure that the data is being recorded properly and that you can address any operator training issues early on. If you have any questions regarding this pre-harvest checklist, give the Ag Leader support team a call at 515-232-5363.

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