Precision Pays

The military started using them to safely check on enemy activity without putting troops in harms way, but Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) are now starting to be used for many civilian applications, especially in agriculture.

USDA scientists are studying how UAVs may be used to keep an eye on changing land-use patterns across vast tracts of western rangeland.

Ranchers, government agencies and private land managers often need to survey vast, remote rangelands to see how they are being altered by floods, forest fires or other events. Ground-based surveys can be costly and time-consuming. Satellite imagery is improving, but satellites can’t provide the resolution needed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) for its assessments of millions of acres of federally owned lands, or by private land owners who want to monitor erosion control, the creep of invasive species, or other land-use changes. UAVs allow operators to survey large areas whenever they want, such as immediately after a major rain storm or forest fire.

So researchers with the Agricultural Research Service (ARS) Jornada Experimental Range in Las Cruces, New Mexico are studying the potential effectiveness of a 20-pound UAV with a 6-foot wingspan that cruises 700 feet above the earth, collecting digital images.

In a study partially funded by BLM, the researchers took more than 400 aerial images of 700 acres in the Reynolds Creek Experimental Watershed in southwestern Idaho. They assembled the images into mosaics, determined the percentage of vegetation cover using image-processing techniques and compared the data to information collected with conventional ground-based techniques. In a second study, they analyzed the classification accuracy of different types of vegetation, such as mesquite and yucca plants, identified by a computer program designed to analyze mosaics assembled from hundreds of images taken during flights over tracts in Idaho and New Mexico.

Read more from ARS.

Scientists with USDA’s Agricultural Research Service have patented a way to transform commercial digital cameras to produce color infrared aerial photos that can measure the extent of vegetative cover.

USDA has jointly patented the technology that can take an ordinary 12-megapixel camera sold without an internal filter that blocks near-infrared (NIR) light and then add a custom-made lens filter to block red light and transmit NIR.

The patented method allows photographing with light in the NIR, green and blue bands, which are used to measure the “greenness” of vegetation and extent of crop canopy cover. There is no need for further processing, so the images are available immediately upon landing. The cameras are also lighter and more compact than the traditional larger format cameras used for aerial infrared photography.

Read more from USDA-ARS.

There are Android and iPhone apps for just about everything.  My friend, Jason Webster runs the Practical Farm Research for Beck‘s Hybrids in Downs, Ill.  In addition he farms, too.  Jason fully admits he doesn’t always practice what he used to preach about scouting fields during the growing season.  Because of that – he’s gone to a more sophisticated form of scouting.  One that he utilizes and with full conviction can explain to farmers why they should make the leap to incorporate that technology into their farming operations, too. 

In this month’s Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, Jason explains the future of finding problems in our fields. 

You can subscribe to the Precision Pays Podcast here. The Precision Pays Podcast is sponsored by Ag Leader Technology.

Look up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s a Multi-Rotor Remote Sensing System!

Somehow Multi-Rotor Remote Sensing System (MRRSS) just doesn’t have quite the same ring as Superman, but these tiny remote-controlled, camera-equipped drones could give some farmers super powers to see their crops from a bird’s eye view. University researchers from Arkansas, Florida and Ohio are currently studying the applications of the system which consists of a six- to eight-rotor, remotely controlled helicopter that provides a stable platform for the off-the-shelf digital camera that sends back video and stills to the ground crew. The system includes image recognition software that can teach itself to recognize individual trees or plants and count them. With different sensors, the machine could potentially detect disease, irrigation or fertilizer issues, predict crop yields and more.

The idea for the system came from Reza Ehsani, Assistant Professor and Precision Agriculture Specialist with the University of Florida’s Citrus Research and Education Center. It’s powered by a lithium ion polymer battery and a basic unit costs from $7,000 to $10,000. Ehsani says it would be a great tool for citrus growers to use to combat citrus greening.

Arkansas researchers are interested in how the system could help row crop farmers and the project in that state is being funded partially by the state soybean board. In Oregon, nurseries and tree farms have the most interest.

To provide easier access to geospatial satellite products, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Agricultural Statistics Service (NASS) has just launched CropScape, a new cropland exploring service.

CropScape provides data users access to a variety of new resources and information, including the 2010 cropland data layer (CDL) just released in conjunction with CropScape. The new service offers advanced tools such as interactive visualization, web-based data dissemination and geospatial queries and automated data delivery to systems such as Google Earth.

“CropScape delivers data visualization tools directly into the hands of the agricultural community without the need for specialized expertise, GIS software or high-end computers,” said Mark Harris, NASS Research and Development Division director. “This information can be used for addressing issues related to agricultural sustainability, land cover monitoring, biodiversity and extreme events such as flooding, drought and hail storm assessment.”

CropScape was developed in cooperation with the Center for Spatial Information Science and Systems at George Mason University, Fairfax, Va. The research and development of CropScape and the NASS partnership with George Mason University reflect NASS’s continued commitment to improve U.S. agricultural production, sustainability and food security.

Check it out here.

This past week, I caught up with Matt Darr, Iowa State University ag engineer and precision farming guru, to chat with him about this past year in precision agriculture.

“We’ve said for a few years now that ‘accuracy is addictive.’ Well farmers are proving that as this has been a year driven by higher precision—a move to more RTK accuracy.”

The big deal. Darr cited the widespread nature of expanding RTK networks, both public and privately owned. “These networks are pushing us towards RTK becoming a standard commodity, which will help drive down the costs and give more growers the potential to achieve high-end accuracy. And that is a big deal.”

The CORS network has had a strong run over the past three years. Indiana is now online as the most recent, along with CORS networks in Iowa, Ohio, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Missouri. “I see this growth slowing down, but we’ll continue to see greater stabilization and improvement in the signals,” Darr says.

In the private sector, we’re seeing greater expansion from Trimble’s VRS network and from John Deere’s StarFire 450 MHz radio system, as well as other smaller companies building systems across the Midwest.

Crop sensing. Another big push is on to figure out how to use active crop sensing to provide financial benefit. “With the addition of Ag Leader’s OptRx system, along with the Greenseeker from Trimble and CropSpec from Topcon, growers have the potential to unlock another area of profitability. It’s not as simple as auto guidance, and it may not work for everyone,” Darr says.

This technology offers a natural fit in wheat, since growers are used to topdressing in the spring. “Anytime you can automate N applications, you’re looking at both economic and environmental benefits. A reduction in the over-application of N is a big deal,” Darr says.

“The challenge for Midwest corn growers is that not every producer uses sidedressed N when corn is 12 to 18 inches tall, which is where this technology needs to be used. So you’re asking growers to change production practices as well as adopt new technology, so these challenges will slow adoption. But it offers huge potential,” he adds.

The future. “If you look back 4 or 5 years, and think about the automation technology that has come out—from auto swath to auto steer—all the easy things, relatively speaking, have been automated. Future automation gets tougher. We now need to circle back to data and press that information into greater knowledge. That’s what we’re after. We must gain knowledge from all this data to improve our operations,” he says.

GPS World offers a look at their top five events in GPS/GNSS for 2010, so check it out, too. http://www.gpsworld.com/survey/top-5-events-gpsgnss-2010-a-year-end-review-10854

Visit these links for more information.

CORS Network
http://www.ngs.noaa.gov/CORS/GoogleMap/CORS.shtml

Learn How CORS Network Can Fit Precision Farming
http://precisionpays.com/2010/01/learn-how-cors-network-can-fit-precision-farming/

Lessons in Differential Correction
http://www.agleader.com/2010/07/02/lessons-in-precision-ag-differential-correction-part-2/

RTK Network Options
http://farmindustrynews.com/precision-guidance/rtk-network-options

Ag Leader dealer locator
http://www.agleader.com/dealer-search/

Precision farming technology was on display at the National Agricultural Aviation Association (NAAA) Convention in Savannah, Georgia last week.

One of the many exhibitors of precision technology at the NAAA Trade Show was AgSync. Their slogan is “It’s not just about maps anymore.”

Sales Manager Clay Rassi says the company offers everything from customer management to mapping to communicating work orders to creating missions and organizing the loads and efficiency of the airplanes and more. AgSync has expanded their product and services via integrated partnerships with companies like BASF Crop Protection. From a precision ag standpoint, their products help aerial applicators be more efficient while helping them make sure they’re in the right field and applying the right product.

Listen to Chuck Zimmerman interview Clay at NAAA here: Clay Rassi Interview

2010 NAAA Convention Photo Album

A European Space Agency (ESA) project , TalkingFields, aims to takes satellite observations of fields and provide actionable advice to farmers throughout the growing season.

The TalkingFields initiative is now showing how to combine satellite observation with satellite navigation to benefit European farmers.
Sustainable food production and food security are critical challenges. TalkingFields will help by using precision farming methods to produce crops more efficiently. For instance, by optimising farmers’ use of fertiliser and giving early warning of plant disease risks, both costs and environmental impacts can be reduced.

“There are existing services variously employing Earth observation data, satellite navigation, farm management software and crop growth models, but TalkingFields is the first to combine them all,” said ESA’s Tony Sephton.

“We’re setting up an end-to-end service that is simple to use and sufficiently cost-effective to be self-sustaining.”

How does it work? The farmer requests the service for an area defined using satnav. Satellites gather information on the land’s potential – observations over several years can reveal variations in crop growth through soil changes – as well as current crop status.

These results are combined with information from field sensors such as weather conditions and soil moisture. The farmer adds in his own knowledge, and in return receives detailed satnav instructions on where and how much fertiliser to spray, for example.

A variety of satellites can be employed, although priority will be given to free data sources such as Landsat and ESA’s forthcoming Sentinel-2 satellites, due for launch in 2012.

“Ideally, we might have weekly satellite acquisitions, but cloud cover makes that unfeasible,” explained Dr Sephton.

“Instead, we need only two to four satellite images per growing season, which are fed into a sophisticated crop growth model.

“With TalkingFields the emphasis is on service: we’re not giving raw satellite data straight to farmers. Instead, we advise them directly on actions to be taken throughout the growing season.”

Read more

ARS researchers have developed a way to make more precise agricultural maps of fields from data generated by LIDAR (light detection and ranging) sensors to help farmers target more of their resources to the highest-yielding parts of their fields. Graphic courtesy of James M. McKinion, ARS.

Using an airplane with LIDAR (light detection and ranging) sensors is helping USDA-ARS researchers build better management zone maps that can accurately predict yields based on topography.

With the maps fed into computerized, variable-rate fertilizer applicators, precision farmers can divert more of their costly fertilizer to the highest-yielding zones and the least to the lowest-yielding zones. They can also use the zone maps to make other decisions, such as planting more drought-tolerant varieties in low-yield zones, or sowing less seed.

Five years of comparisons between these maps and actual “on-the-go” yield monitoring for cotton and corn on a farm in Mississippi showed that accurate yield predictions can be made based on topography.

Researchers contracted to have a plane with LIDAR (light detection and ranging) sensors fly over the 1,000 rolling acres of the farm. LIDAR is a form of radar that can map elevations digitally, showing slopes and sun exposures, by bouncing laser light off the landscape.

By blending yield results with the maps, the scientists divided fields into high-, medium-, and low-yield zones.

One advantage of LIDAR landscape mapping is that it only has to be done once.

LIDAR topographic mapping is spreading from state to state. Louisiana, for example, has financed LIDAR mapping of the entire state.

Otherwise, it is expensive for an individual farmer to pay for LIDAR mapping. So, McKinion is also looking for alternative topographic mapping techniques.

James McKinion, an electronics engineer at the ARS Genetics and Precision Agriculture Research Unit at Mississippi State, Miss., did the study with entomologist Jeff Willers and geneticist Johnie Jenkins at the ARS unit in Mississippi. This research was published in Computers and Electronics in Agriculture.

ARS is the principal intramural scientific research agency of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This research supports the USDA priority of promoting international food security.

University of North Dakota students and faculty designed and built the ISSAC camera to watch growing crops from space beginning in 2011.

“ISSAC is a space-related research project that will result in the delivery of direct benefits from space to the general public,” said Doug Olsen, ISSAC project manager. “The ISSAC project is in the midst of developing an upgrade to its camera sensor, which is expected to be launched in April 2011. It will resume operations during the 2011 growing season.”

ISSAC is designed to take frequent images, in visible and infrared light, of vegetated areas on the Earth, principally of growing crops, rangeland, grasslands, forests, and wetlands in the northern Great Plains and Rocky Mountain regions of the United States. Images will be delivered within two days directly to requesting farmers, ranchers, foresters, natural resource managers and tribal officials to help improve their environmental stewardship of the land. Images will also be shared with educators for classroom use.

The system allows users to select specific geographical areas of interest over which to request collection of imagery in both red and near-infrared bandpasses, and at medium-high spatial resolution. Farmers using variable-rate application and other precision agriculture techniques will be able to dynamically delineate management zones as the crop vegetation canopy changes during the growing season; this can result in more effective use of fertilizer and other chemical inputs and reduce negative environmental effects.

“The UND interdisciplinary effort that has produced this camera is a remarkable story,” said UND President Robert O. Kelley. “Faculty and students from several colleges and centers on campus have produced an instrument that will analyze the composition of agricultural and other natural resources on the surface of the earth from the International Space Station.”

“The consolidation of multiple technologies into a single instrument will add tremendous economic value to the agricultural industry in North Dakota and around the world,” Kelley said. “UND and NASA have forged a very productive partnership in this initiative.”

ISSAC is operated from the Science Operations Center (SOC) on the UND campus, staffed by students from across the campus, including from the John D. Odegard School of Aerospace Sciences and the School of Engineering and Mines. From the SOC, students will send commands to ISSAC to take images and transmit them to SOC, where they’ll be processed and delivered to end users. Images captured by the camera will be made available to the public through UMAC’s Web page (see http://www.umac.org/).

Aerial Imagery provider FalconScan is working with AgJunction to offer standardized work order and data delivery services to growers and ag service providers.

Under a new agreement, FalconScan will harness the power of the AgJunction hardware and software platform to make it easier for customers to order and receive the company’s aerial imagery acquisition services.

Commenting on the agreement, Mr. Herron stated, “We are pleased to be teaming up with AgJunction. We believe that their services will streamline the ability of growers and service providers to place orders for FalconScan’s aerial imagery services and receive data back in a timely fashion. We strive to deliver finished data to customers within a week or less from the time they place an order, and AgJunction will help us make that possible.”

Jeff Dearborn, Managing Director of AgJunction at GVM Inc., said, “We are proud that FalconScan chose AgJunction as its provider of data management services. It is one more indication that AgJunction is becoming the go-to information technology platform for growers and service providers in the agricultural industry. With FalconScan’s help, we look forward to strong growth for our platform in 2010 and beyond.”

Headquartered in Glen Burnie, Maryland, FalconScan, LLC combines state-of-the-art remote sensing science and commercial-off-the-shelf technology to rapidly deliver high-resolution ortho photos, NDVIs, and field maps. The company’s proprietary solutions help growers efficiently manage crops, reduce inputs, and save money. FalconScan images can be used to support field scouting, develop prescription maps, and control variable rate technology.

A division of GVM Inc. (www.gvminc.com), AgJunction offers an information technology platform of hardware and data management software that is specifically designed for the agriculture industry. This flexible, web-based system allows users to manage moving and stationary equipment, and to manage field data work orders. In addition, it provides a comprehensive reporting system.

As planters continue to roll across the Midwest, most farmers are thinking about what’s next. One component of precision farming you may want to try is the use of crop sensing. Why? Because this is the future that will help overcome field variability–from helping create optimum field management zones to monitoring crops so growers can take action before yield-robbing stress occurs.

One good overview of this science, published in 2003 by USDA-ARS scientists from across the country, will help you grasp the realties and benefits that can be achieved. And the technology has dramatically improved since this was written.

One independent agronomic guru who is a favorite of mine (and I’ve quoted many over the years in farm magazine articles) in Tom McGraw, owner of Midwest Independent Soil Samplers (MISS). Tom calls a spade a spade, and offers some excellent advice, which he gives in his newsletter, on their website, and especially to customers.

Bottom line is you should consider examining one field, perhaps your toughest most variable ground, to see what you can learn and improve upon with this sensing technology. Talk to your local retailer to understand their capabilities, or contact one of the four MISS locations.

The latest in precision agriculture might not be at the ground level, turning the soil.  It might come just a few feet above the top of the crops in the form of the Autocopter.

In this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we talk to Autocopter president Donald Effren, who describes how this little helicopter with a five-foot blade-span operating at about 25 feet above the ground brings farmers and ranchers a level of sophistication that has its roots in the high-tech Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, better known as UAVs, that the military has been flying in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan.  Effren says his aircraft is actually more stable than some of its military cousins.  And with controls that are easier to operate than most hobby shop model helicopters and a price tag of $30,000, in line with most farm implements, this little dynamo could be the next big thing in precision agriculture.

Listen to the podcast in the player below to find out more about the Autocopter. You can subscribe to the Precision Pays Podcast here.

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Superior precision farming software is crucial in order to help growers maximize in-field efficiencies. Ag Leader Technology not only delivers excellent SMS Basic training for growers, it now offers a three-day Certified Training course for its SMS Advanced software users who want to go beyond the one-day training.

SMS Advanced software is geared toward crop consultants, agronomists or other co-op personnel, precision ag managers, GIS mapping specialists and other service providers who provide precision farming services to growers. “We’ve been providing software and one-day general training since the late 1990s. But this past year we expanded to an in-depth three-day training course for advanced users,” says Michael Vos, SMS Sales Manager for Ag Leader.

“New and existing SMS Advanced software customers wanted an in-depth level of training, so we created a Certified Training program, which includes 15 to 22 CCA credits. We offer an excellent trainer to student ratio, as we normally have two trainers and 8 students, in our new state-of-the-art Ag Leader Academy computer lab,” he says.

The three days are tailored to exactly what the individuals want to learn. “We make lists of topics and details that are desired so users get the exact training to fit their business model. Some of the popular topics requested include: how to write equations for prescriptions, how to use aerial imagery and read it to make fertilizer use and crop scouting decisions, how to build a customer soil fertility booklet and creating soil management zones from aerial imagery and numerous years of yield data,” Vos says.

Every attendee receives a special certified manual with screen shot by screen shot steps for the software program. And within the book there are explanations why each tool is used, along with definitions and real world scenarios on how each tool is used.

“It’s definitely a complex tool, and when users see all the potential benefits of the software, they want to learn how to use it to the fullest extent,” he says.

Check out upcoming SMS Training Sessions…

Clouds can often interfere with aerial imagery from satellites or high level aircraft, while wet conditions on the ground can make it difficult to use ground based sensors. Research being done in Australia combines ground type sensors with low flying aircraft to deal with those situations.

For this edition of the Precision Pays Podcast, sponsored by Ag Leader Technology, we go to the Precision Agriculture Research Group (PARG) at the University of New England in Armidale, Australia where they are working on Ultra Low Level Airborne (ULLA) sensing. I spoke with group leader David Lamb about the system and its potential for helping growers who need timely aerial imaging information in challenging weather conditions and potentially saving them both time and money in the process.

Subscribe to the Precision Pays Podcast here.

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