Yield Sensor Reporting Guidelines

Precision Ag Council of AgGateway
Guideline proposal for Annual Yield Sensor Calibration Reporting to USDA
Background: During the 2011 reinsurance crop year the Risk Management Agency began to accept field data collected on precision farming systems as verification of policy claims. The guidelines for an Approved Insurance Provider (AIP) to follow to verify a Producer's records are laid out in the Loss Adjustment Manual (LAM), which may be updated annually. ¶90C(4) of the guidelines (relevant excerpts from the manual are indicated on the next few slides) describes what information a producer must supply to verify that the yield monitoring system has been properly calibrated.
Currently, very few (if any) of the Farm Management Information Systems (FMIS) or precision farming equipment systems that are available to Producers support the systematic creation or presentation of the data and information the guidelines indicate. Since U.S. Producers are increasingly utilizing precision farming systems to gather field data that might be utilized to verify crop production in the event of a policy claim, there is an opportunity for AgGateway to present an easy-to-follow guideline that allows FMIS and equipment systems developers to follow. This will allow AIP's and USDA staff to more easily verify compliance with the claims guidelines.
RMA Loss Adjustment Manual Excerpt:

1. The insured must have calibrated the yield monitoring system for each insured crop and crop year, in accordance with the owner's manual specifications.
2. The insured must provide documentation showing the weighed average sensor calibrations for the crop and crop year.
3. The sensor calibrations must not exceed three percent when compared to the actual weighed production harvested from the acreage used to calibrate the sensor…
4. If the initial sensor calibration difference exceeds three percent when compared to the actual weighed production harvested from the acreage used to calibrate the sensor, additional calibration samples must have been taken (and documented)until the results are within tolerance (3%)
5. The annual calibration report, from the yield monitor system or documentation from the insured (contemporaneous log), must include all calibrations and adjustments performed, by crop, for the crop year, including the date each calibration/adjustment was performed and the difference from the previous setting. The annual calibration report must be provided to the AIP or RMA.

Yield Sensor Calibration Reporting Guideline Description:
Page Layout:

1. Page header– the page header should include the report title "Annual Yield Sensor Calibration Report" and the Producer's name.
2. Page footer – the page footer should include a page number, such as (x of y) and the date the report was created (YYY-MM-DD)
3. Report sections – should be created for each Crop Season and each Crop within the season
4. Page size – the report should be formatted to fit standard 8 ½ by 11 inch paper, in Landscape orientation

Data Guidelines and descriptions:

1. Producer – Text field indicating the name of Insured
2. Crop Season –Calendar year in which the crop(s) shown on the report was harvested. If multiple Crop Seasons will be on the report, then the report should display those in multiple sections or pages
3. Crop – is the crop name as indicated on the Producer's policy. Crop names should align with USDA CVT.
4. Calibration Date & Time – is the date and time on which the calibration was performed by the machine operator. Time should be expressed based upon GMT in terms of 24-Hour format to meet ISO8601 format (e.g. YYYY-MM-DDTHH:MM:SSZ)
5. Farm – the common name the Producer optionally assigns to the harvest area
6. Field – the common name the Producer assigns to the harvest area
7. Load ID – is any identifier that the Producer's system assigns to the unique instance of the calibration being reported
8. Operator – is optional text/data that indicates the operator of the harvester machine for the unique instance of the calibration being reported
9. Machine - is any identifier that the Producer's system assigns to the unique harvester machine for the unique instance of the calibration being reported
10. Estimated Weight – (UoM is U.S. pounds) data that indicates weight of the Crop (Wet weight, no system correction for moisture) as calculated by the system's sensors (e.g. mass flow, moisture, etc.) for the unique instance of the calibration being reported
11. Actual Weight - (UoM is U.S. pounds) data that indicates weight (Wet weight, no system correction for moisture) of the Crop as measured by acceptable scale type for the unique instance of the calibration being reported
12. +/- Diff – (UoM is U.S. pounds) Difference calculated from Estimated Weight minus Actual Weight (expressed as either positive or negative value)
13. % Diff – Ratio of Estimated Weight to Actual Weight, expressed as a percentage, double-digit level of decimal precision
14. Average Crop Moisture – Moisture of Crop, expressed as a percentage, as measured by the system's moisture sensor
15. Scale Description or Comment – space to accommodate hand-written text that describes the acceptable scale type used to measure the Actual Weight, and/or other hand-written text the Producer may enter to inform the crop insurance company or USDA. Precision farming manufacturers and FMIS developers are encouraged to implement methods where this information may be logged and systematically-integrated onto the report.

NOTE: Values in items 12-16 expressed to double-digit level of decimal precision

Annual Yield Sensor Calibration Report