It's all about light
Mar. 31, 2008
Shine the light on it! Turn up the lights! Search lights...spotlights...strobe lights...It's all about light when you are looking for something. With record high crop and fertilizer prices, producers and their full-service ag retailers are looking hard for ways to increase productivity.
We can feed the soil, but the great unknown has always been how much gets to the plant. Answering that question with the aid of light and acting on the answer is continuing to show great promise for improved productivity. Ironically both success and failure in commercial ventures are leading to advancements in sensing productivity limiting factors.
A year ago, OptiGro Aerial Imaging from John Deere and Greenseeker marketed by RedBall were promising great things from plant reflectance, though one reading was measured in acres with ambient light and the other in inches with red and near infrared strobes. The former used a system of planned overflights and high quality aerial imagery, downloaded and processed to define plant productivity opportunities. These images were quickly turned into application recommendations. The latter used light reading sensors on the toolbar for real-time analysis and variable rate application. Both systems relied on in-field nitrogen rich strips for comparative evaluation.
N-rich strips represent enough of a cultural barrier in much of the Midwest that the managmenet technique is thought to have contributed to unmet goals and John Deere abandoning OptiGro. It is one reason the new distributor of OptiGro renamed Crop Assure has abandoned last season's nitrogen centric focus. At the same time, it also is encouraging a commercial alternative to GreenSeeker that doesn't require N-rich strips.
"John Deere pushed nitrogen management programs with the imagery," explains Nick Emanuel, CEO, Pinacle Ag Technologies, the distributor of Crop Assure. "Late-season N application required too much of a mindset change for growers. We are broadening our approach."
Kyle Holland, Holland Scientific, agrees that the technique is a real barrier, no matter how good a management technique it may be. "Many of the companies and cooperatives we've talked to tell us their market research indicates growers do not want to implement nitrogen rich reference strips," he says.
Holland believes he has the answer. The company's Crop Circle VRT system bypasses the need for N-rich strips. Introduced as a research tool in Europe in 2004, it caught on with wheat producers. Because N application before February 15th is prohibited, European farmers wanted a way to evaluate N needs and treat in-season. Holland developed an algorithm for use with Crop Circle sensors.
"Our sensors autocalibrate as they drive through the field," says Holland. "Our agrochemical application method resulted in an overall economic benefit of $33 per acre over conventional practices in 2007 for EU wheat producers."
Holland is now working on fine-tuning the algorithm to use with the sensors in corn in the U.S. Although his company until now has been a technology provider to researchers, Holland plans to go commercial with the Crop Circle VRT system. He is also developing a next generation sensor that uses super bright LED lights to capture three bands of light and can be filtered to select specific wavelengths or indices.
"Seed companies are very interested in being able to identify traits using indices," explains Holland. "Right now sensing technology is an explosive area given the number of different things you can look for. Using three bands, you can play multiple indices against each other and then play that against a super index to track changes in the plant such as a crop's nutrient requirements versus its water status."
GATHERING SUPPORT FOR GREENSEEKER
Meanwhile GreenSeeker, with its patent for real-time analysis and variable rate application, continues to gather support. While some see creating N-rich strips as a barrier, Jack Gerhardt, product manager, GreenSeeker, sees the practice as a best management practice that will pay off whether you are using GreenSeeker or not.
"Just because you put 160 pounds of N on, doesn't mean you have enough to maximize your yield," he says. "Without an N-rich strip, there is no way to evaluate performance. Our first time users repeatedly tell us that they would not grow another crop without them."
Early adoption of GreenSeeker has been strongest in the eastern Corn Belt, explains Gerhardt. He notes that farmers in that region "have more propensity to do split applications." He admits that adoption is easiest where practices don't have to change. At the same time he is seeing growing interest among farmers and researchers alike in the central and western Corn Belt as well as in other crops. Gerhardt used the technology on his family farming operation in southern Minnesota before he became a product manager. He says his first-hand experiences are being borne out by others, and expects to see a 300 percent to 400 percent increase in use over 2007.
"We are seeing very impressive results coming out of Saskatchewan and Manitoba on small grains and canola," he says. "In the U.S., we are continuing to do well in studies on corn and wheat at Virginia Poly Technical Institute. CHS, Inc. did primary field scale studies on corn in southeastern Minnesota, and Iowa Soybean Association's On-Farm Network did field scale studies on corn in that state."
Gerhardt reports CHS compared variable rate with GreenSeeker against a 140-pound flat rate and showed a $4 per acre advantage. In the study, the pounds of nitrogen required per bushel of corn yield was reduced 0.15 pounds from 0.79 to 0.63
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