Precision Pays

All agricultural technology enthusiasts are invited to attend the 10th Annual Nebraska Agricultural Technologies Association Conference (NEATA), January 27-28, 2010 at the Midtown Holiday Inn, Grand Island, NE.

Pre-conference programs will focus on Optimizing Pivot Irrigation Management (9:00 to 4:00) and Social Media Applications in Agriculture (1:00 – 4:00) will be offered the afternoon of January 27.

The conference opens Wednesday evening with Dr. Raj Khoslo, Precision Agriculture Specialists, Colorado State University, discussing Precision Nutrient Management on Site-specific Management Zones, followed by Bill Kranz, Irrigation Specialist, University of Nebraska-Lincoln addressing Monitoring Irrigation Water Application with Computerized Controllers.

Thursday morning opens with international guest and precision agriculture expert, Sam Tengrove, Australian farmer, sharing Adoption of Precision Agriculture by Australian Grain Growers. Additional general sessions offered include Broadband: Who Needs It?, Mapping Evapotranspiration with High Resolution and Internalized Calibration (METRIC), and Global Perspectives of Site-specific Weed Management.

Twelve concurrent sessions addressing a variety of emerging agricultural technology topics will also be offered on Thursday. The concurrent sessions in the Ambassador room will be hands-on workshops. See the conference brochure.

Up to 8 CCA credits are available for conference participants with an additional 6 CCA credits available to those who attend the Optimizing Pivot Irrigation Management pre-conference workshop.

More information is available at http://neata.org.

Ag Leader Technology and AutoFarm joined forces today in Ames, Iowa at the official opening of the new Ag Leader Academy to talk about their combined tools of precision agriculture with the media.

Matt Darr, Iowa State University

Amidst the talks by management, touting the excitement of this alliance and their complete precision farming product offering, was a presentation by Iowa State University agricultural engineer Matt Darr.

He paralleled the adoption curve of hybrid corn (which took 18 years) to grower adoption of precision farming tools. In 2010, some 18 years since its birth, surveys predict that 50% of U.S. farmers will have adopted some form of precision farming.

“Since 1992, the industry began in the data collection phase, and has evolved into the steering control and variable rate application. And now we’re entering the third phase, which is implement control,” Darr says.

“Precision farming has enhanced productivity, has put the operator back in control, has enabled precision placement, provided cost savings and environmental benefits, has reduced production variability and much more,” he adds.

Favorite quotes. Darr talked of a few favorite quotes heard during University precision ag field days. 1. “Just being able to watch my planter is payback enough to own auto steer.” 2. “Precision guidance along with statewide RTK (CORS network) will finally make strip-till easier to adopt.”

While paybacks vary on given farms and operation styles, Darr outlines his views based on current research…

- Lightbar guidance: 300 acres/year for payback

- Universal auto steer on tractor: 400-500 acres/year

- Integrated auto steering: 900 acres/year

- Auto swath sprayer: 1,800 sprayed acres/year

- Site specific (variable rate) solutions: harder to put numbers on right now

In the future, Darr added that he sees success in real time nutrient control, and a greater push to biorenewables for energy–which will be delivered by precision tools.

Case IH and Ritchie Implement teamed up with University of Wisconsin-Platteville (UWP) to benefit agricultural students and their studies of precision agriculture.

“Access to new Case IH agriculture equipment will be a tremendous asset to Pioneer Farm – the precision farming solutions will greatly increase the productivity of our operations,” says Phil Wyse, director of Pioneer Farm. “But more so than that, this partnership advances the mission of Pioneer Farm – to enhance the agricultural education experience for students on campus and for agriculturists throughout the surrounding communities. That’s what we’re really excited about.”

Pioneer Farm, the university’s 430-acre working farm, boasts some of the best soil in southwest Wisconsin. The gently rolling fields, managed with conservation in mind, rotate between corn, oats and alfalfa, and those crops help support the farm’s dairy, beef and swine enterprises. A combination of new Case IH tractors, hay tools, skid steers, tillage implements, a planter and a combine, delivered in early 2010 and each year thereafter, will be used in the farm’s day-to-day operations. The equipment allows students and farm visitors to see the productivity-enhancing benefits of Case IH equipment in real-world applications.

“With the support of Ritchie’s and Case IH, the UWP Pioneer Farm is able to make use of cutting-edge farming technology,” Wyse adds. “We applaud Ritchie Implement and Case IH for this valuable partnership.”

“Students and university researchers will get to see, run, test and learn all about the newest innovations in production agriculture first-hand,” explains Ron Ritchie, president of Ritchie Implement Inc., a Case IH dealer with locations in Barneveld, Cobb and Darlington, Wis. “Our goal is not only to broaden ag students’ educational experience and better prepare them for their farming careers, but also to enhance educational opportunities for active producers locally, regionally and across the state. We’re excited to be part of that important effort.”

As part of the agreement, Case IH product specialists will be available to support classroom instruction and participate in student clinics and shared community activities such as University Field Days with hands-on field demonstrations.

Popular Science magazine did a nice job providing readers with a glimpse into the precision agriculture research that is needed to grow twice as much food by 2050. The writer talked about how this challenge is everyone’s problem, but scientists are hard at work fomenting a second green revolution.

Here are the research projects that the magazine chose:
1. Sahara Forest Project — Greenhouses using seawater and solar power to grow cash crops in the desert.
2. Soil sensors — Research at Iowa State University into wireless soil sensors that may help farmers use water, fertilizer and other inputs more efficiently.
3. Improved rice — Researchers hope to turn this staple crop into a super rice that grows faster in warmer and drier climates by transforming its photosynthesis process.
4. Replace fertilizer — Michigan State researchers attempt to replace/reduce commercial fertilizer use with microbes. They are currently field testing microbial cocktails (Bio-Soil Enhancers) that can simultaneously reduce the need for phosphorous and nitrogen, protect plants against pathogens and boost yields in virtually any type of crop.
5. HarvestChoice — The Gates Foundation is funding data compilation of Africa’s agricultural systems and land use to increase yields to feed the growing continent.
6. Satellite soil moisture — NASA and USDA are working to monitor soil moisture levels around the globe to hopefully improve crop forecasting.
7. Robot labor — The challenge of American specialty crop growers finding human labor is increasing difficult. Current research using robots with a variety of sensors will help machines scan for fungus, growth rate, soil moisture, humidity, light levels and more. But cost of such technology is the current challenge.
8. Rebuilding soil — Scientists hope to turn waste into a charcoal that, when applied to degraded unproductive soil, will attract microorganisms to help plants access nutrients, hold more water and lock in carbon. Companies are working on portable machines to produce biochar on-site.
9. Make supercrops — Research is bioenginering the African staple crop cassava root to turn it into the PowerBar of the vegetable world. They’re attempting to increase protein, add vitamins, increase shelf life, add virus resistance and eliminate cyanide-producing toxins in the root.

Speaking at the bi-annual precision agriculture InfoAg conference in Springfield, Ill., recently, Utah State Geospatial Extension Specialist Phil Rasmussen talked about the latest tools he uses in the field.

Rasmussen has worked with NASA on remote sensing projects, and 10 years ago began a geospatial training program for County Extension agents called “On Target.” In his talk he highlighted the best GPS handheld units, software he uses, some new tools coming and how these technologies are continually evolving and converging. Some of the products he mentioned include:
Archer system by Juniper Systems
StarPal software system
Spot Tracker unit
Favorite website – gpscity.com

Listen to Rasmussen discuss this technology…

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Precision Pays coverage of the InfoAg 2009 Conference is sponsored by: .

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Encouraging all farmers, not just the technology adopters, to use precision fertilizer Best Management Practices (BMPs) was the theme of an opening session talk by Clyde Graham, VP of Strategy and Alliances with the Canadian Fertilizer Institute.

Speaking at the bi-annual precision agriculture InfoAg conference in Springfield, Ill., today, Graham cited the importance of a global 4Rs BMP effort with their US counterpart, The Fertilizer Institute, and global science-based organization the International Plant Nutrition Institute (IPNI).

As environmental issues mount and become more personal, the 4Rs—Right source, Right rate, Right time and Right place—can help farmers and the public understand how fertilizer can contribute to sustainability goals for agriculture.

Listen to Graham as he outlines the need to achieve social, economic and environmental goals, and make sure farmers measure their performance to demonstrate an ability to operate without undue regulation.

Listen to part of Clyde’s presentation:

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Precision Pays coverage of the InfoAg 2009 Conference is sponsored by: .

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Maximizing economic return is the payoff sought by growers with any precision farming technology. And a new story in Southeast Farm Press talks about how the Precision Farming team at the University of Georgia is using soil texture to target nematodes.

With precision agriculture, we try to refine things in order to achieve the goal of maximizing returns,” says Richard Davis, USDA-ARS plant pathologist in Tifton, Ga. “And when we talk about precision agriculture in nematode management, what we really end up talking about is more effective targeting of nematode applications.”

Many of the things growers do for managing nematodes involve making applications over entire fields rather than specific parts of a field, says Davis.

As part of a large project funded in part by Cotton Inc. and the Georgia Cotton Commission, the Precision Farming Team at the University of Georgia has been evaluating a number of techniques for delineating areas within fields at high risk for nematodes.

The fact that root-knot nematodes prefer sandy areas has encouraged researchers to find ways to rapidly measure soil texture — either directly or indirectly — and one of the most promising techniques is to directly measure soil EC. Soil EC is a function of soil texture and soil moisture. Sandy soils produce low soil EC while heavier soils result in higher values of soil EC.

While different instruments have been developed to measure soil EC, one of the most popular is the Veris 3100. This instrument has six coulter-electrodes (disks) mounted on a toolbar. As the Veris is pulled through the field, one pair of disks transmits an electrical current into the soil while another pair of disks measures the drop in voltage. The separation between the disks determines the depth to which soil EC can be measured. In the most commonly used configuration, soil EC is measured simultaneously from 0 to 1 foot (shallow) and 0 to 3 feet (deep).

In addition to directly measuring soil EC, there are other promising methods for indirectly measuring soil texture. These include using real time kinematic (RTK) GPS to rapidly create detailed topographic maps of fields. Elevation and slope of the terrain frequently dictate where coarse textured soil particles are deposited by erosion.

Ask any grower who is succeeding with the various tools of precision agriculture, and you’ll hear about the importance of the local dealer’s field technician–such as John Deere’s AMS Technician program.

For anyone interested in this growing job field, check out Oklahoma State University’s Institute of Technology, which offers a two-year Associate in Applied Science degree in Precision Agriculture Technology.

Graduates from the new program will be prepared for a higher level of agriculture, in which most new jobs require skills in GIS, GPS, and remote sensing in addition to the familiar disciplines of agronomy, plant science, and agri-business.

OSU Institute of Technology students will be learning to use GPS and GIS technologies to provide detailed information to farmers on their crop’s health status, irrigation and fertilizer need, plus warn of attacks by insects or weeds.

OSU Institute of Technology’s program is designed to meet the needs of two types of students: those who want to earn an associate’s degree in agriculture with high employment potential; or those who want to complete their first two years of an agriculture degree, then transfer to OSU’s Stillwater campus to earn their bachelor’s degree.

To learn more about this program, check out the information guide.

The popular Ohio State University Conservation Tillage and Technology Conference has a six-hour session on precision agriculture technology topics.

Last year, more than 770 growers, crop consultants and industry representatives from Ohio and surrounding states found big benefits from attending a wide variety of presentations at this conference. This year’s annual meeting is scheduled for February 25, 26 and 27 in Ada, OH at the McIntosh Center of Ohio Northern University.

Precision topics include yield maps to save fertilizer and maximize yields, auto-steering and GPS, variable-rate application for sprayers and planters, site-specific sampling benefits, RTK networks and the costs/benefits of adopting precision technology.

Other topics on the program range from cover crops, grain marketing and weather to scouting, nutrient management, soil and water issues, and much more–including a trader show. And you can check out last year’s presentations online, too.

Spraying orchards is a messy but necessary job. And if Cornell researchers succeed, a driverless tractor and sprayer could simplify the task.

This fruit tree sprayer, fitted with sensors to determine location and height of trees, is part of a $3.9 million USDA-funded project at Cornell–in collaboration with the National Robotics Engineering Center at Carnegie Mellon University. The objective is to develop, test and evaluate a fleet of autonomous tractors designed for precision agriculture applications–and John Deere is delivering four tractors for testing at Southern Gardens Citrus in Florida.

Goals for the project include developing tree-level precision agriculture applications that leverage, at very low cost, autonomous mobile platforms and supporting infrastructure; reducing the cost for wide-scale adoption; and soliciting feedback from growers, regulators and technology suppliers. The researchers will also study such questions as how disease detection, yield estimation and precision spraying can be most effectively deployed from the mobile platform; how many platforms one operator can safely monitor and what the installation, setup and support issues are associated with the system.

Stay turned to Precision Pays as we explore more robotics work, being undertaken at John Deere, with an eye toward the future of automation.