The light-green strip on R was uniform rate of N compared to the healthier darker green variable rate N strips on either side applied by the on-the-go crop sensor from Ag Leader

At this week’s InfoAg 2009 conference, precision.agwired.com caught up with Ag Leader Technology’s Roger Zielke to discuss a new sensor-driven product designed to help growers apply prescription Nitrogen rates by measuring the health of the growing crop.

Zielke, who heads up new business development for Ag Leader, describes how this Holland Scientific light sensor reads light reflectance of the growing crop and applies only the needed amount of N (controlled by Ag Leader’s DirectCommand) — which is proving to save money in corn fields that have a lot of variation. And there’s potential for even more uses, such as crop scouting, as well as adding new data layers to yield maps to aid future crop input decisions.

Listen to what Roger had to say…
[audio:http://precision.agwired.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2009/07/rogerziekl17.mp3]

Ag Leader is in its second year of field tests this summer, will begin marketing these sensors in early 2010. Current variable rate results with this sensor shows a savings of $15/acre to $120/acre compared to a flat rate of 50 lbs. N.

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