By Erin Hightower agronomist for RDO Equipment Company
Recently, I visited my optometrist for an annual eye examination. As we discussed my prescription, I experienced a familiar line of questioning while looking through different lenses: “Is one better?” Click. “Or two?” The optometrist leaned in and casually asked, “How about three?”
Instantly, every letter’s line was clear as day. It was then that I realised the stark similarities between these annual eye examinations and agronomic information systems.
During the International Tree Fruit Association meeting, a group of us reviewed an array of equipment and technology developed to create data-driven mapping for tasks like plant thinning, pruning or other various agronomic stages. Also, I recently spent time with Oregon State researchers to explore timing nutrient applications to enhance wheat protein while minimising waste.
These technologies allow its user to have a more nuanced understanding of Liebig’s Law of Minimum which asserts that the scarcest resource limits productivity. As mindful growers, we frequently think about which technology, software or equipment enhancement manages even the most limited resources effectively.
We ask ourselves:
- Can I still rely solely on my traditional crop management and data management practices?
- Is my farm data more evident when viewed through the lens of the app ‘two’ or equipment enhancement ‘three’?
- Would data-driven prescriptions create more efficient or sustainable practices?
Just like regular appointments with your optometrist often present opportunities to discuss improvements to your physical vision, seasonal calls with a trusted agronomist or equipment expert can improve your agronomic vision and reveal resource management improvements.
Consider a few questions you can revisit each season when discussing zone’s prescriptions and spraying application.
What are my limited resources?
Determining your limited resources each season will inform prescriptions and how they affect your labour, financial, or field nutrient resources. Factors like labour or growing degree days affect crop growth differently each year. We may have a labour shortage this year, but the next, we may have a harvest that is ‘all hands on deck no matter what’.
Each year needs to be evaluated since the availability of these resources may change depending on the season or specific crop. Discuss these factors with your trusted expert to determine how well you’ve identified your limited resources for the crop’s specific growing phase.
At a dryland wheat conference, I discussed pesticide mixing and compliance and the SurePoint QuickDraw Spray Tender Mixing System’s potential benefits with growers. The system utilises a recipe to set variable load-size mixing and precise measurement without the risk of human error or incorrect calculations.
At first, many growers found SurePoint QuickDraw’s price tag unfathomable — even with its proven input savings of accurate mixing in the application’s tank. What those growers didn’t see was the value it offered in its ability to reduce the risk of pesticide spills and decreased application errors due to poor mixing protocols.
If growers consider SurePoint QuickDraw’s investment compared to potential spill fines, plus team members’ medical bills, the initial investment may seem more reasonable. By evaluating its total agronomic, monetary, time savings, and risk reduction against the growing season’s limited resources, growers see spraying improvements for each field’s zone prescription.
What are my field zone’s tolerable sizes?
Before spraying in each field’s zone, set a minimum zone size for each variable rate application in your farm management software (FMS), like John Deere Operations Center™.
I learned this the hard way when helping a grower remotely set up a prescription for different variable rate field zones in the Operations Center. As the grower started to apply fertiliser, his rate controller could not keep up with the constant changes in the prescription, which caused the fertiliser system to fail to apply correct rates based on varying conditions across the field’s different zone. The right prescription has both a reasonable and measurable output.
A sampling grid of a quarter acre may be accurate but not manageable for your labour, equipment, or information processing systems. For your current operation understand how granular you can apply nutrients with your technology on hand, for the field’s variability. Reconsider new technology that can help increase granularity in application that may help you save. With patient industry, saving here and there, you might find unlocked potential in your farm.
Can existing equipment automatically read data?
We are experiencing a technological renaissance that would have seemed like science fiction just 30 years ago when it comes to data in the field. However, these impressive field mapping systems may have one potential setback: How do they translate technology mapping back into actionable input and decision-making?
For example, I conducted a side-by-side study to map fields using unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) with several different mapping systems in the same field. One aerial field map produced intricate wine grape maps that resembled artwork. (I still want to frame them on my wall.) Yet, the practical vineyard owner asked these questions after every flight:
- Can I automatically integrate this data into my machinery? (Which it could not for their application systems)
- Can the machinery use this data so I can test soil or check irrigation lines in zones created from these maps? (It couldn’t since the mapping was too granular to make actionable sections.)
We would need to spend hours of time with maps to synthesise the information to help discern irrigation rates. Numerous technologies in the agricultural industry focus on reading crop quality, quantity, and thinning targets. I feel most of these technologies have a rich future. However, only a small handful of known technologies can effectively apply insights from field inputs, and many are expensive. While data and equipment technology has exponentially improved the applications of spraying prescriptions, we should still be aware of our current limitations in automating equipment based on data integration.
Ask questions, adjust and future-proof operations
At times, we track ag data sets for documentation to provide evidence for future decisions. For years, as an example, we ‘spoon-fed’ the most fickle of agronomy systems: the potato.
We field-scouted and sampled small grids for soil levels. During the past 10 years, these data sets have informed field maps to improve zone prescriptions when applying fertiliser.
Recently during harvest, these data collections were validated when we started to receive updated yield data, signalling that mindful resource management — informed by data — delivered measurable results.
There is hope that these years’ worth of data will uncover new action steps. In the case of our potato fields, years of grid sampling, followed by the use of Greentronics systems with the Gen 4 and G5 John Deere displays, was the combination of corrections we needed to see clearly. We do have hope for the potential of useful information, but we need to ask the right questions, collect data in faith, and build the right adjustments once it becomes affordable and practical for your farm.
Just like when your glasses prescription slightly adjusts and you discover newfound clarity, collecting field zone data and making even seemingly minor adjustments can have long-lasting effects for your agronomic and financial future.
