A combine harvester is provided that separates grain material from material other than grain using multiple processing areas, including a harvesting area, a feederhouse area, a threshing area, a cleaning area, and a grain delivery area. In a location at or prior to entering one of the processing areas, the material may be collected and held until a collection threshold is reached. Once it is determined that the collection threshold is reached, the material forming a first group of material may be transported from the location to the processing area or a subsequent processing area. The first group of material is transported from the location to the processing area or the subsequent processing area substantially simultaneously and thus simulates the gathering of a large amount of crop material even when small plots are involved. In this way, reduced cycle times may be achieved, and the efficiency benefits of large-plot harvesting may be extended to small-plot applications.

A system for harvesting produce from a tree has a drone capable of hovering, a video camera gathering visual data of movement, a cutting implement, a remote control station with a display screen, wireless circuitry, and input mechanisms to control movement of the drone and operation of the cutting implement, and circuitry in the body of the drone enabling two-way communication with the remote control station, transmission of video data from the video camera, and response to commands from the remote control station. The video data from the camera on the drone is displayed on the display screen of the remote control station, and an operator viewing the display screen operates the input mechanisms, maneuvering the drone to position the cutting implement relative to produce in the tree, and triggers the cutting implement by command, severing a stem to separate the produce, causing the produce to fall from the tree.

Systems and methods for optimizing the collection of a windrowed crop are described. In an exemplary implementation, conditions data is accessed and used to estimate the moisture content of a windrowed crop. The estimated moisture content is used to create an optimal collection prescription for the operation of baling equipment to collect the crop. During the collection of the crop, the moisture content of the crop is measured and compared to the estimated moisture value. The system may then revise the optimal collection prescription based on the measured moisture value. This process can then be repeated until all of the windrowed crop is collected.

A system including a controlled agriculture environment containing one or more growing rooms, each containing one or more growing units is described. Each growing room is managed by an HVAC system under the control of an environmental control unit. Each growing room may have a specific temperature and humidity optimized for the type of plant or plants being room. The growing room may have a positive air pressure when compared to areas connected to it to ensure that no insects or contaminants can enter the growing room. The growing room may provide water feed, compressed air, CO.sub.2, and electricity to each of the growing units. The growing units are also connected wirelessly to an environmental control unit.

A biomass harvesting system for harvesting agricultural plant growth from agricultural fields comprises a power source for providing mechanical and electric power to the system, a biomass accumulator for producing discrete units of accumulated biomass, a windrower for feeding biomass to the accumulator, a biomass quality analyzer for sensing and transmitting a set of quality characteristics of the biomass, a soil chemical analyzer for sensing and transmitting in real time soil chemical characteristics of the agricultural field soil, an active tracking system for identifying individual ones of the discrete units of accumulated biomass, and a central processing unit including a memory module storing an executable instruction set therein. The central processing unit executes the instruction set and integrates the sensed biomass quality characteristics and the sensed optimal quantity of biomass residue to remain on the field to determine a biomass quality index of the discrete units of accumulated biomass.

A method is provided for converting a bow rod harvester into a trunk shaker harvester. In the bow rod harvester, a plurality of bow rods are attached to an oscillating member that is configured to reciprocate about a first vertical axis of a first vertical shaft of the bow rod harvester. In the conversion, the plurality of bow rods are removed from the oscillating member and a shaker rail is coupled to the oscillating member.

A method is provided for converting a bow rod harvester into a trunk shaker harvester. In the bow rod harvester, a plurality of bow rods are attached to an oscillating member that is configured to reciprocate about a first vertical axis of a first vertical shaft of the bow rod harvester. In the conversion, the plurality of bow rods are removed from the oscillating member and a shaker rail is coupled to the oscillating member.

The locations of flowers on a plant, rather than the locations of agricultural products produced from such flowers, are used to facilitate the performance of harvesting and other agricultural operations in robotic agricultural applications. In some implementations, the identified location of a fruit-producing flower may be used by a robotic device to apply an indicator tag to a flowering plant proximate the flower for later identification when performing various types of directed and automated agricultural operations. In other implementations, the identified location of a fruit-producing flower may be used by a robotic device to anchor a stem of a flowering plant to a predetermined location such that the location of the flower, and of any fruit(s) later produced by such flower, are controlled and/or known when performing subsequent agricultural operations.

A sensor senses wind direction and generates a sensor signal. A wind processor processes the sensor signal to identify a wind direction at a location of an agricultural harvester. An action signal is generated to control the agricultural harvester to avoid discharging residue from the agricultural harvester into unharvested crop, based upon the wind direction.

A sensor senses wind direction and generates a sensor signal. A wind processor processes the sensor signal to identify a wind direction at a location of an agricultural harvester. An action signal is generated to control the agricultural harvester to avoid discharging residue from the agricultural harvester into unharvested crop, based upon the wind direction.