Fact vs. Myth, What is Holding Precision Agriculture Back Daniel Edmonds Cody Daft Zimbabwe, January...

Fact vs. Myth, What is Holding Precision Agriculture Back

Daniel EdmondsCody Daft

Zimbabwe, January 2008

Communication• German Coastguard

N Uptake, Wheat and Corn

020406080

100120140

N uptake, lb/ac

30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240Day

WheatCorn

• Myth: Variable Nitrogen Rate Application is too difficult

• Fact: Variable Nitrogen Rate Application is indeed difficult, but not overwhelming

• Myth: The only precision agriculture technology that is going to make me money is an auto guidance system

• Fact: There are lots of precision agriculture tools available today that have delivered economic benefits (VERIS, GreenSeeker, Yield Mapping)

• Myth: VRT is only for large farmers

• Fact: This would exclude most of Oklahoma

• Myth: My Grandpa was a good farmer and he applied 100 lbs of N/ac, every year, and we still have the farm.

• Fact: Grandpa wasn’t a very good farmer

• Myth: The YP0*RI=YPN algorithm developed by OSU is only useful in Oklahoma

• Fact: Farmers in Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Nebraska, Mexico, Argentina, Australia, and Canada have benefited from using this approach

• Myth: The GreenSeeker RT200 equipment is difficult to install

• Fact: Dave Geils, Illinois: “… it was easy to install and only took a few hours. You just attach the sensors, plug it in, and it was good to go.”

• Myth: The NRCS program sounds good (support of VRT), but it is pie in the sky.

• Fact (Jan, 2008): Randy Becker is utilizing the EQUIP program, through the NRCS. In his contract he will be receiving $11.10 per acre on 640 acres for 3 years. Basically the NRCS is paying for his system in full.

• Myth: I just need to get the right flat rate, since my fields don’t have any spatial variability

• Fact: If your fields don’t have any spatial variability, you must already be in heaven

• Myth: The GreenSeeker RT200 isn’t going to make me any money, because it is too expensive ($22,000 retro-fit sprayer)

• Fact: Dave Geils, Illinois. “We saved at least 20 units across the board. The total nitrogen savings was about $24,000. So I paid for the cost of GreenSeeker the first year. ”

• Myth: The government is going to take care of me. Uncle Sam and I go way back and he just isn’t going to let me down.

• Fact: Farmer: “Government programs are not going to keep giving us money if we aren’t good environmental stewards. We might as well get in front of the game with tools like GreenSeeker.”

• Myth: The N Rich Strip and Ramp Calibration Strip were developed separately for different reasons

• Fact: The RCS approach was developed after the SBNRC as a visual diagnostic tool, and potential alternative for farmers. Both hinge on the same concepts.

• Myth: OSU is working in third world countries because farmersin Oklahoma won’t listen to them

• Fact: OSU is working in third world countries because it is the right thing to do.

• Myth: With the advent of the GreenSeeker N management approach, soil testing for NH4-N and NO3-N is now worthless.

• Fact: The N Rich Strip – GreenSeeker and/or RAMP approach is much better than the N soil test. HOWEVER, soil sampling for N, especially 0-2 ft is still incredibly useful.

• Myth: The reason that OSU is pushing the GreenSeeker technology is because it could make OSU a little money

• Fact: The reason that OSU is pushing the GreenSeeker technology is because it could make OSU A LOT of MONEY!

• and the football stadium is overbudget

Ambassador of Agriculture

Fabric

• “One can stand still in a flowing stream, but not in a world of men”

• What we do can impact many far beyondthe reaches ofthose intended

April 16, 2007Dr. Norman BorlaugCiudad Obregon, MX

Endorses GreenSeeker approach for improved N management

• Corn N Management versus Wheat• Graph showing N uptake as a function of

time, show why N preplant (50%) in corn is so important