Precision Pays

Joe Nichols has evolved from watching his parents lose their farm when he was 17, to building a highly diversified 19,000-acre farm near Cadiz, KY. A recent story in theleafcronicle.com offers a fascinating look at his Seven Springs Farms. In that piece he highlights his precision farming emphasis on input savings as well as environmental protection.

He makes extensive use of precision farming technology. For instance, he uses variable rate planting, determined by soil type. “Soil type reflects the water holding capacity of the soil,” he says.

“Some soils are more productive than others, and the more productive soils get the higher plant populations. In sports terms, we play defense with our less productive fields and play offense with our more productive soils.”

He also uses global positioning and auto-steering on his equipment for swath control during planting, spraying and applying fertilizer. “This cuts down on over applying and wasting money,” he says. “We strive to protect the environment and be the best stewards of the land and water that we can be.”

As a result of his success as a row crop farmer, Nichols has been selected as the 2010 Kentucky winner of the Swisher Sweets/Sunbelt Expo Southeastern Farmer of the Year award.

“The goal I started with was to build an operation from scratch that could someday be viewed as one of the best, well-managed farming operations in North America,” he says. “This overarching goal is what drives me each day.”

Read the entire story.

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.

courtesy USDA

Best Management Practices, or BMPs, are essential for precision farming. Nate Taylor at ZedX wrote a good blog post yesterday on this subject.

As with any business, developing Best Management Practices (BMP) is essential to continued success and profitability. As you develop BMP’s for your farm, a critical piece to include are Nutrient Management plans. In this post we are going to focus on commodity crops.

Many times BMP’s are situational, especially with Agriculture and Nutrient Management. However, there are certain steps that broadly apply to developing a Nutrient Management plan for any farm. Once a plan is developed, the next step, developing BMP’s for fertilization, can be put in place. Let’s take a look at developing a Nutrient Management Plan

Farm Nutrient Managment Plan Steps:

1. Assess the natural nutrient sources like soil reserves and legume contributions
2. Identify fields or areas within fields that require special nutrient management practices
3. Assess nutrient needs for each field by crop
4. Determine quantity of nutrients that will be available from organic sources, such as manure or industrial or municipal wastes
5. Allocate nutrients available from organic sources
6. Calculate the amount of commercial fertilizer needed for each field
7. Determine the ideal time and method of application
8. Select nutrient sources that will be most effective and convenient for your operation.

List taken from the Illinois Agronomy Handbook, Robert G. Hoeft. rhoeft@uiuc.edu

Read the story to learn more about creating a plan.

Long narrow fields can enhance field operation efficiency

While driving back and forth across field after field planting seed, spraying or spreading fertilizer, have you thought much about ways to make that task more efficient?

Obviously, if you have auto steering, you’re saving passes due to reduced overlap. But have you thought about turning time, wheel traffic pattern, shallow secondary tillage, harvest efficiencies and other uses of precision agriculture? Check out these ideas from a recent story by university extension specialists.

Turning time
To reduce turning time, farmers should strive to make fields large, long, and narrow by eliminating fence rows, ditches, or other barriers. Larger implements, if matched to tractor size, can be more field efficient because bigger implements cover larger areas and require a smaller number of turns.

Tillage direction
The concept of going “catty corner” or “tilling off the corners” of the field when tilling diagonally can also save fuel by having the turning result in a tillage operation.

Wheel traffic pattern
Controlled wheel traffic patterns can save fuel and reduce total soil compaction in a field. The tractor and other machinery operate in the same tracks for all operations, improving tractive efficiency with compaction occurring only in a narrow area.

Crop growth in the uncompacted areas of the field is considerably better than if some compaction occurred all over; however, poor drainage or other problems may occur near the compacted zone.

Shallow tillage
Deeper tillage results in greater fuel use. With every inch of increase in moldboard plowing depth, approximately 0.15 more gallons of diesel fuel per acre is used. There is a proportionate increase for other tillage operations at increased depths. Secondary tillage should seldom be performed deeper than one-half the depth of primary tillage.

For example, if a field is plowed 8 inches deep, disking should be no deeper than 4 inches. Shallower secondary tillage has the added benefits of not only saving fuel, but reducing compaction and lessening the amount of wet soil and weed seeds brought to the soil surface. Water loss is also often reduced with shallower tillage, resulting in a longer period before first irrigation is necessary and/or better overall early plant growth.

Harvesting efficiency
Crop conditions can affect the amount of fuel used in harvesting operations. A crop which is too wet, lodged, or harvested under wet soil conditions can increase fuel consumption. Where possible, under optimum crop and field conditions, proper machine adjustment and harvest can result in fuel efficiency. Harvesting less straw and stalks during grain combining by increasing height of cut can reduce fuel consumption as well.

Use of precision agriculture
Global positioning system (GPS) guidance systems and auto-steer technology make use of the most efficient routes around a field, eliminating overlaps and skips.

Auburn University biosystems engineer Jonathan Hall recently highlighted the value of prescription maps and VR (variable-rate) application to reduce runoff and save up to 30 percent in annual costs.

With the spring growing season finally underway, many Alabama farmers are fertilizing their fields to enhance crop yields. Most people are familiar with farm-grade fertilizers such as 8-8-8 and 10-10-10. Granular fertilizers are meant to be worked into the ground or sprinkled around plants. It is recommended that they be worked into the ground prior to planting. Granular fertilizers take longer than liquid fertilizers to dissolve into the soil. They can last anywhere from 1 to 9 months, depending on the type. The nutrients need time to break down with some watering, and it usually takes a few days to see results.

Variable-rate technology (VRT) is recommended when applying granular fertilizers. By using VRT, farmers can apply fertilizer and nutrients on a site-specific basis. However, organic fertilizers, such as manure and poultry litter, are commonly used in Alabama. Poultry litter is used extensively in the northern half of the state due to the state’s growing poultry industry. In Alabama, about 2 million tons of poultry litter is generated annually with 90% of it land applied as a fertilizer or soil amendment. Over the years, continuous application of litter has generated environmental concerns due to excessively high phosphorous levels. Therefore, the use of guidance systems, VRT, and other precision agriculture technologies can be used in an attempt to reduce over-application and application in undesired areas.

By forming prescription maps and using VRT during the application process, runoff is reduced and the field is provided with site-specific nutrients. It is also economical! Research has shown that up to 30% of annual costs can be saved. This includes the cost of fuel, labor, and the fertilizer itself. While money is being saved, crop yields are also improved by providing the plants with nutrients as needed throughout the field. By incorporating VRT into the application of granular fertilizers, Alabama farmers can be economical while being good stewards of the land at the same time.

For more information visit www.alabamaprecisionagonline.com.

Precision farming techniques are driving growth in soil sampling say Midwest soil labs, according to a report in Midwest Producer.

“At the peak of the season we’ll test 20,000 samples each day,” says Kennard Pohlman of Omaha’s Midwest Labs. “We always test the organic matter in the sample and the pH. You want to verify the nitrogen carryover and the level of phosphorus, potassium, sulfur and zinc. I can almost tell you, by looking at the soil sample results, what the farmer has been doing in the past and how good the farm is. That’s how much information is available in a soil sample.”

Grid sampling is Oldham’s specialty and he said a growing number of producers, especially those growing corn, are realizing the benefit of managing input costs and improving yields by testing their soil quality in single or multiple-acre grids.

“Sometimes producers believe the cost of sampling is greater than the cost savings or increased yield they see,” Oldham said. “Actually, the investment in the sampling analysis generally isn’t even recognizable in contrast to the combination of savings on inputs and the increased yield. If you’re analyzing just a few samples from your field, you obtain information about the averages in soil quality for that field. Getting samples from every 2.5 acres or less really allows you to combine that information with a variable rate prescription that allows for the best management of inputs and maximizes yield.”

For more details, read the story.

The Furrow magazine, produced by John Deere, profiled several growers on their use of precision farming management zones in a story called “Farming In The Zone” in their March 2010 issue.

Broadwater, Neb., grower Frank Lussetto says zone management helped him accomplish three broad goals of being agronomically sound, economically smart and environmentally safe. He uses zone maps for phosphorous, nitrogen and seeding rates, grouping six to eight soil types in a field into three to five zones. And he used elevation and electrical conductivity as the primary drivers in zone development.

The story also featured Enterprise, Kan., farmer Larry Hottman and his use of zones, derived more prominently from yield maps collected since 1998. He too used electrical conductivity readings to map soil properties along with grid soil sampling.

University of Nebraska agronomist Richard Ferguson says they are seeing a $26 per acre benefit using site-specific nitrogen application and zone management.

For more details, read the story.

We like to write weekly about how growers and how company technology makes precision agriculture pay. Part of making these tools pay almost always includes time savings—which isn’t always as black and white as input dollars saved.

Today I spoke with Hannibal, Mo., grower Mark Lehenbauer about his first decade with precision farming tools on their corn-soybean operation. Mark, who farms with his dad Ronald, has always been interested in the latest technology, and bought their first yield monitor in 2000, the year he graduated from college.

“At first, we tracked yield data, and it was a big learning curve on using it the way we should. The first efficiency we saw was yield loss due to weeds, so we switched to a two-pass application—which led to the purchase of a Hagie sprayer to cut our custom application costs.”

The biggest time saver came two years ago when they invested in auto steer. “Aside from the efficiencies we gained when spraying with Ag Leader’s DirectCommand AutoSwath boom control, we gained time savings and it reduced operator fatigue,” he says.

“Before auto steer, you would become just exhausted by mid-afternoon when spraying corn because you were focusing so intensely on the rows. With auto steer, it allows us to run an extra hour or two because all we do now is turn around, push the button and go.”

Lehenbauer says auto steer saves time during planting as well. “When you’re not exhausted at the end of the day, you can still run later and plant an extra 20 to 30 acres—which really adds up when you can shorten your planting window,” he says.

Analyzing data every winter has also turned into another time saver, too. “We use Ag Leader’s SMS software, and we look at numerous year’s data for hybrids and varieties in different tillage environments. It has truly helped us reduce tillage, saving time with more no-till. And the data has helped us realize the true value of no-till fields. Those fields have saved us time during harvest, because we can get into no-till fields quicker after a rain without leaving the ruts that often occur in our reduced tillage fields. Without ruts, we don’t have to do as much fall or spring tillage,” he says.

Lehenbauer also uses the data to write his own prescription maps, based off of university recommendations. “The data helps us find greater efficiencies on a field-by-field basis, comparing fuel usage and time spent in fields, even examining varieties than can take longer to harvest if there’s issues with green stem.

“It’s the little things we’ve done over the years that have added up to a lot of time and efficiency savings. You start figuring out acres by the hours you’ve saved and multiply that by your planting or harvest window—it really adds up to much greater efficiency,” Lehenbauer says.

Water use efficiency is vital for agriculture as our global population continues to grow. To help growers minimize water use while maintaining crop yields, Cermetek offers the new AquaMon Wireless Soil Monitoring Network.

AquaMon allows active monitoring of the soil. Knowledge of soil conditions is essential to achieve high crop yield with less water.  Maintaining the optimal level of moisture in the ground permits crops to flourish.  Doing so with the minimum amount of water requires real-time data on soil conditions. An AquaMon sensor node can support up to six sensors of any variety including soil moisture content, soil temperature, air temperature, humidity, pH sensors, and nitrate sensors.

In addition to monitoring soil conditions digitally controlled outputs can activate external equipment such as flow valves or nutrient injection equipment.  Much as electronic fuel injection permits automobile engines to increase power while reducing fuel consumption and emissions; real-time soil monitoring allows water conservation without impacting crop yield.

The data generated by AquaMon can be viewed in two ways, locally or on-line.  Cermetek created Remote Sensor Viewing Platform (RSVP) software to allow the irrigation decision maker to load the field data on his computer and easily view the data patterns.  The data can also be uploaded onto our server and be viewed in the same format using a standard browser.  Storing the data on-line allows the data to be viewed from anywhere with Internet access and even allows multiple authorized users to view the same data.

AquaMon is expected to be available this spring.  The cost of a single sensor node is expected to start at $300 plus the cost of the sensors.  Cermetek is actively recruiting Irrigation dealers to resell the AquaMon product line.

John Deere’s RowCommand, which allows for seed savings by avoiding overplanting, is now available for chain-drive planters.

Introduced in 2008 for Pro-Shaft drive planters with MaxEmerge and Pro-Series XP row units, RowCommand has become a widely used planter component for many row-crop producers.

“As the cost of seed continues to rise, more producers are looking for ways to maximize their seed investment through more precise placement in the field and to reduce overlap,” says Chris Savener, product manager, John Deere Seeding. “The availability of RowCommand as a field conversion attachment to chain-drive planters gives more producers an opportunity to realize the value of this technology in their operations.”

The RowCommand system controls seed delivery by automatically engaging and disengaging the chain drive clutch on each individual row unit based on GPS field maps and boundaries. “The system allows operators to reduce overplanting in point rows and around headlands, thereby reducing seed costs and the yield drag associated with double planting,” Savener adds.

RowCommand requires a GreenStar2 1800 or 2600 display and SeedStar2 monitoring system installed on the planter for operation. The RowCommand system is compatible with the following chain-driven John Deere planter models and row configurations:

• 1720: 12-row narrow; 12-row wide; and 16-row narrow
• 1760: 12-row narrow
• 1770: 12-row narrow
• 1770NT: 12-row; 16-row; and 24-row narrow
• 1770NT: CCS 12-row; 16-row; and 24-row narrow
• DB 44: 24-row, 22 in.

While we often talk product and technology innovation, you truly cannot achieve real efficiency without knowing your various soils in every field.

It all starts with regular soil tests, and many astute growers use this information to build management zones in every field–as the basis for variable-rate applications. Soil testing is not a budget line-item that should be cut.

University of Wisconsin soil scientist Matt Ruark wrote a good reminder recently about the Economics of Soil Testing. He lists two main misconceptions about soil testing:

MISCONCEPTION #1: Soil testing is expensive.
FACT: Routine soil testing costs less than 40 cents per acre. University of Wisconsin soil testing recommendations are to analyze one composite sample per 5 acres and to soil test at least once every four years. Using a standard rate of $7.00 per analysis, this averages out to $0.35 per acre per year. Most, if not all, certified laboratories will also provide fertilizer recommendations based on University of Wisconsin recommendations along with the soil test values.  Some laboratories may have slightly higher prices or may charge shipping costs.

MISCONCEPTION #2: Maintenance applications of P and K are good enough.
FACT: Soils testing in the very low to low range for P and K require additional inputs beyond removal rates to optimize yield.
FACT: Soils testing in the high to excessive range require less than removal rates to optimize yield.
In either case, money is lost from either reduced yields or over application of P and K. When soils tests indicate the soil is in the very low to low category, this suggests that there is a very high likelihood that yields will increase due to application of fertilizer. However, it also indicates that the crop would benefit from building the “fertility” of the soil through additional P and K inputs over time.

For more information on soil testing, check out “Sampling & Analysis.“

Cotton farmers, working with Clemson University, are achieving 30 to 50 percent nitrogen savings by side-dressing–without losing any yield, according to a recent report in Southeast Farm Press.

For the past three years Clemson researchers at the Edisto Research and Education Center in Blackville, S.C., have been testing three different options for variable rate application of side-dress nitrogen on cotton. In 2007 and 2008 they reduced total nitrogen use by 30 percent with no yield loss. In 2009, they upped the ante to saving 50 percent on nitrogen use.

The proof of the 50 percent reduction will come after cotton is harvested and yield and quality numbers are in, but so far tests on the research station and with cooperating farmers look good.

“If you look at cotton prices, they are about the same as in 2003. However, if you look at the price of nitrogen, despite a drop in price this year, it is still near record highs. The recession has kept prices low, but we don’t know where nitrogen prices will go next year,” says Clemson Researcher Wes Porter.

Porter is a graduate student working with Ahmad Khalilian, a Clemson University Professor of Agricultural & Biological Engineering and guru of precision agriculture for a number of years.

For the past three years Khalilian, Clemson Extension Precision Ag Specialist Will Henderson and a group of dedicated graduate students have tested variable rate technology for use in applying nitrogen and other fertilizers on cotton.

Porter says there are three routes a farmer can go to apply variable rates of nitrogen to cotton. The first is the simplest and least costly: A nitrogen ramp calibration strip (N-RCS) can serve as a simple guide to nitrogen use.

Read more here.

It’s a proven fact that grass waterways and stream buffer strips reduce erosion and runoff. Current research at the University of Kentucky strives to develop reliable prediction models for accurate placement of these grassy strips in a field using GPS.

Tom Mueller, associate professor in the University of Kentucky (UK), College of Agriculture, guided Adam Pike, UK graduate student, on a project that examined whether reliable prediction models could be created to identify eroded waterways from digital terrain information such as landscape curvature and estimates of water flow from upslope areas.

“The terrain attributes were calculated from elevation data obtained with survey-grade GPS measurements collected on a farm in the Outer Bluegrass Region of Kentucky,” Mueller explains.

Results from the study are published in the September-October issue of Agronomy Journal. This work supported by a special grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The authors developed equations that accurately identified the potential locations of erosion-prone areas. They found that simple regression methods could be used to fit these equations as well as more complex non-linear neural-network procedures. The equations were used to map areas in fields where erosion was predicted. These areas corresponded very well with actual field observations of erosion. This work was confirmed with a leave-one-field-out validation procedure.

Research showed these maps could help conservation planners and farmers identify where erosion from concentrated flow is likely to occur, but not necessarily the exact shapes of these features. Field site-assessments would still likely be required for verification and to accurately delineate the boundaries of erosion-prone areas.

Mueller stated, “while this study is promising, more work is needed to determine whether these techniques can also be used with USGS digital elevation grids and from elevation data obtained with light detecting and ranging (LIDAR) data. Further, we need to evaluate whether models can be developed to predict across larger geographic areas.”

Mueller is conducting follow-up research to evaluate quality of erosion predictions created with 10-m USGS data sets and evaluating the performance of these models on fields in western Kentucky. He hopes to present the results of some of this work at the 2009 Annual American Society of Agronomy Meetings.

http://agron.scijournals.org/content/vol101/issue5/#SOIL_QUALITY__FERTILITY

Precision agriculture is more than just right source, right rate, right time and right place. It’s also about responsible conservation measures to help reduce nutrient and soil loss.

It’s anyones guess if the EPA will try to regulate farm field runoff. But irregardless of that, there are good programs in place now to help farmers pay for sound conservation practices that help reduce potential runoff.

The latest such initiative announced recently by the USDA-NRCS is a 12-state voluntary, incentive-based program to improve water quality in the Mississippi River Basin — heartily endorsed by the American Society of Agronomy (ASA).

“Clean water and profitable crop production are possible with deployment of crop production practices that have been developed by ASA members. The initiative will enable growers to put conservation practices into place on more acres. Our Certified Crop Advisers look forward to being able to work with producers to put the most appropriate practices into place for each field. Cleaner water and more sustainable production programs will result from this initiative,” says ASA President Mark Alley, Virginia Tech.

The USDA’s Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative provides a $320 million investment over four years to support programs in 12 states: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin to help farmers voluntarily implement conservation practices which avoid, control, and trap nutrient runoff, improve wildlife habitat, and maintain agricultural productivity.

According to Alley, agricultural researchers are committed to developing sustainable conservation practices to decrease soil erosion and nutrient runoff. ASA’s Certified Crop Advisers are uniquely qualified to provide nutrient management recommendations to farmers.

The goal of the USDA initiative is to target resources in those watersheds that could have the largest impact on improving water quality in the basin and the Gulf of Mexico. The program will be implemented by USDA-NRCS using funding from the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative and other Farm Bill Conservation Title programs.

The causes of and solutions to the Gulf of Mexico’s hypoxia zone/dead zone in the Mississippi River basin will be discussed at the ASA Annual Meeting, Nov. 1-5 in Pittsburgh. Events include a presentation by Clifford Snyder, International Plant Nutrition Institute on Nov. 2, and a lecture by Duke University’s Curtis Richardson on Nov. 3. For more information on these lectures or other presentations about hypoxia, please visit www.acsmeetings.org or call 608-268-4948 or email suttech@agronomy.org

For information about the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative, please visit: www.nrcs.usda.gov.

Check out this step-by-step guide to learn how this program works, and how you can implement it on your farm.

Designing field terraces will soon become easier thanks to a new Internet-based terrace design tool under development at the University of Missouri.

Allen Thompson, Associate Professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, says his computer-assisted tool can upload GPS-based topographical data to facilitate design and installation on complex fields.

Another benefit, aside from cutting the terrace development process in half, is the ability to develop several designs to compare costs, conservation effectiveness and farmability based on boundaries, row spacing, equipment size, water flow and other considerations.

More details are in the September issue of Resources magazine, compiled and published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.