Researchers Using GPS To Cut Erosion With Waterways

Kurt LawtonAerial Imagery, Conservation, Fertilizer, GPS, Research, sustainability

It’s a proven fact that grass waterways and stream buffer strips reduce erosion and runoff. Current research at the University of Kentucky strives to develop reliable prediction models for accurate placement of these grassy strips in a field using GPS.

Tom Mueller, associate professor in the University of Kentucky (UK), College of Agriculture, guided Adam Pike, UK graduate student, on a project that examined whether reliable prediction models could be created to identify eroded waterways from digital terrain information such as landscape curvature and estimates of water flow from upslope areas.

“The terrain attributes were calculated from elevation data obtained with survey-grade GPS measurements collected on a farm in the Outer Bluegrass Region of Kentucky,” Mueller explains.

Results from the study are published in the September-October issue of Agronomy Journal. This work supported by a special grant from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The authors developed equations that accurately identified the potential locations of erosion-prone areas. They found that simple regression methods could be used to fit these equations as well as more complex non-linear neural-network procedures. The equations were used to map areas in fields where erosion was predicted. These areas corresponded very well with actual field observations of erosion. This work was confirmed with a leave-one-field-out validation procedure.

Research showed these maps could help conservation planners and farmers identify where erosion from concentrated flow is likely to occur, but not necessarily the exact shapes of these features. Field site-assessments would still likely be required for verification and to accurately delineate the boundaries of erosion-prone areas.

Mueller stated, “while this study is promising, more work is needed to determine whether these techniques can also be used with USGS digital elevation grids and from elevation data obtained with light detecting and ranging (LIDAR) data. Further, we need to evaluate whether models can be developed to predict across larger geographic areas.”

Mueller is conducting follow-up research to evaluate quality of erosion predictions created with 10-m USGS data sets and evaluating the performance of these models on fields in western Kentucky. He hopes to present the results of some of this work at the 2009 Annual American Society of Agronomy Meetings.

http://agron.scijournals.org/content/vol101/issue5/#SOIL_QUALITY__FERTILITY

The Power of Harvest Data

Kurt LawtonGeneral

Insights WeeklyHigh input costs, lower grain prices and a tough overall economy are driving farmers to seek efficiency in every part of every field they farm. The good news is that growers can capture data for every pass they make over a field today—which yields powerful information, and profits.

3-D Map View

3-D Map View

To this end, I spoke recently with Luke James, software trainer and support specialist at Ag Leader Technology. James says that more growers are diving into technology that can deliver quality data collection and the software that helps them make better management decisions. “It starts with multiple years of yield data, then growers want to compile more layers such as soil types, soil fertility, plant population, nutrient levels and more—all to build efficient management zones in every field,” he says. “And then they take this information the next step to create prescription application maps by field zone.”

Ag Leader’s desktop software, either SMS Basic or SMS Advanced, gives growers a powerful tool to analyze all this data, according to James. “One thing we continue to hear from growers using our SMS software is the power of this tool. For example, by layering in planting maps of hybrids and planting populations, they can easily compare hybrid yields, populations and more—either by field or by a selected zone. And our SMS Advanced software, for example, allows you to batch process all your hybrids into one report.”

Growers then take the software further by layering in nitrogen application data to see what’s most efficient. “Our query and analysis tools allow growers to select portions of fields that are under-performing, so they can figure out why it is happening. And you can analyze any input or data point you have collected—from nutrients, plant populations and hybrids/varieties to fungicides, insecticides, soil types and more,” James adds.

By spending time analyzing all this data—and multiple years of data—growers quickly appreciate the power of our Advanced software, because it automates the process of assigning management zones based on many years of data and numerous data layers, James says. “And the other thing they appreciate is the many types and sources of training we offer. We offer phone support, classroom training, online how-to tutorials and training, online discussion forums–all to help growers maximize how this tool can help their operation. Our classroom training is real popular as growers like learning with other growers, because they get into good discussions on how different people use the software,” he adds.

Check out the Ag Leader website to learn more. You can also request a free trial of the software. And don’t forget to check out the mobile device software.

Check Out Precision Agriculture At Sunbelt Ag Expo

Kurt LawtonAg Leader, Displays, Education, Equipment, Events, John Deere, Trimble

Southern growers get a chance to check out the latest precision farming technology at the annual Sunbelt Ag Expo farm show, set for October 20-22 in Moultrie, Georgia.

Now in it’s 32nd year, it features 1,200 exhibitors and 600 acres of field demonstrations. And this year the show will feature a new Technology Innovations and Solutions series of seminars, sponsored by Farm Press and hosted by Southern States Cooperative.

If you come Tuesday, October 20 at 11:00 a.m., you can hear an excellent presentation on the latest in precision agriculture featuring Harlan Little of AGCO, Russ Moorman of AgLeader Technology, Jared Hayes of John Deere AMS, Todd Smith of Outback Guidance Hemisphere GPS, Phil Howard of Southern States, Ron Cox and Jesse Chisholm of TopCon and Sid Siefken, Tim East and Brian Kelley with Trimble Navigation / Ag Technologies.

Check out Visitor Information for more news on the show, and a schedule of events.

Precision Farming And Water Quality Efforts

Kurt LawtonConservation, Education, Fertilizer, Industry News, Resources, sustainability

Precision agriculture is more than just right source, right rate, right time and right place. It’s also about responsible conservation measures to help reduce nutrient and soil loss.

It’s anyones guess if the EPA will try to regulate farm field runoff. But irregardless of that, there are good programs in place now to help farmers pay for sound conservation practices that help reduce potential runoff.

The latest such initiative announced recently by the USDA-NRCS is a 12-state voluntary, incentive-based program to improve water quality in the Mississippi River Basin — heartily endorsed by the American Society of Agronomy (ASA).

“Clean water and profitable crop production are possible with deployment of crop production practices that have been developed by ASA members. The initiative will enable growers to put conservation practices into place on more acres. Our Certified Crop Advisers look forward to being able to work with producers to put the most appropriate practices into place for each field. Cleaner water and more sustainable production programs will result from this initiative,” says ASA President Mark Alley, Virginia Tech.

The USDA’s Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative provides a $320 million investment over four years to support programs in 12 states: Arkansas, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Louisiana, Kentucky, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Ohio, Tennessee, and Wisconsin to help farmers voluntarily implement conservation practices which avoid, control, and trap nutrient runoff, improve wildlife habitat, and maintain agricultural productivity.

According to Alley, agricultural researchers are committed to developing sustainable conservation practices to decrease soil erosion and nutrient runoff. ASA’s Certified Crop Advisers are uniquely qualified to provide nutrient management recommendations to farmers.

The goal of the USDA initiative is to target resources in those watersheds that could have the largest impact on improving water quality in the basin and the Gulf of Mexico. The program will be implemented by USDA-NRCS using funding from the Cooperative Conservation Partnership Initiative and other Farm Bill Conservation Title programs.

The causes of and solutions to the Gulf of Mexico’s hypoxia zone/dead zone in the Mississippi River basin will be discussed at the ASA Annual Meeting, Nov. 1-5 in Pittsburgh. Events include a presentation by Clifford Snyder, International Plant Nutrition Institute on Nov. 2, and a lecture by Duke University’s Curtis Richardson on Nov. 3. For more information on these lectures or other presentations about hypoxia, please visit www.acsmeetings.org or call 608-268-4948 or email suttech@agronomy.org

For information about the Mississippi River Basin Healthy Watersheds Initiative, please visit: www.nrcs.usda.gov.

Check out this step-by-step guide to learn how this program works, and how you can implement it on your farm.

Precision Terrace Design Coming To Web

Kurt LawtonConservation, Education, GPS, Research, Resources, sustainability, Tillage

Designing field terraces will soon become easier thanks to a new Internet-based terrace design tool under development at the University of Missouri.

Allen Thompson, Associate Professor of Biological and Agricultural Engineering, says his computer-assisted tool can upload GPS-based topographical data to facilitate design and installation on complex fields.

Another benefit, aside from cutting the terrace development process in half, is the ability to develop several designs to compare costs, conservation effectiveness and farmability based on boundaries, row spacing, equipment size, water flow and other considerations.

More details are in the September issue of Resources magazine, compiled and published by the American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers.

Agritechnica Announces Technology Award Winners

Kurt LawtonEquipment, Industry News, Precision Ag in the News

Top technology innovation awards were recently announced by an expert commission of the German Agricultural Society that organizes the largest international farm show, Agritechnica. Of the 300 innovations submitted, the committee selected five Gold Medals and 28 innovations for Silver Medals.

Gold Medal winners include forage harvesting auto fill from Claas and New Holland, a Claas interactive combine-setting assistant for different crops and harvest conditions, the world’s first cross-manufacturer (German companies) concepts for ISOBUS-compatible ag machinery to develop a terminal that is similar across machinery brands, and the John Deere Steer-by-Wire steering system that intervenes to improve driving safety and comfort.

Check out all the Gold and Silver Medal winners. This equipment will be on display during the Agritechnica show, November 10-14 in Hanover, Germany. Approximately 2,200 exhibitors from 45 countries will present their products at the show.

Precision Podcast on Yield Monitor Prep

Cindy ZimmermanAg Leader, Audio, Equipment, Harvesting, Precision Pays Podcast

This edition of the Precision.AgWired.com Podcast, sponsored by AgLeader Technology, offers some timely tips on preparing yield monitors for harvest provided during the recent Iowa Soybean Association On-Farm Network yield monitor webinar hosted by technology manager Patrick Reeg.

The entire webcast can be viewed at www.isafarmnet.com. AgLeader Technology’s pre-harvest tips can be found on-line here.

Subscribe to the Precision.AgWired.com Podcast here.

Listen to or download the podcast here:

Data Analysis Using Precision Farming Software

Kurt LawtonAg Leader, Harvesting, Insights Weekly, Software

Insights WeeklyAs harvest begins cranking up across the Midwest, growers are headed to the field with a combine and yield monitor that’s primed and ready to capture another year of valuable data. And this process often sets their minds to thinking about how they’ll use this data during the winter months ahead.

Napoleon, Ohio grower Todd Hesterman consults with other farmers to help them make sense of data in order to create management zones and subsequent prescription nutrient maps.

“I started working with the data on our own 1,000-acre farm that I run with my dad here in northwest Ohio. We began using Ag Leader’s SMS Basic software that really worked well, until I decided to use it for my crop consulting business. We then switched to the company’s SMS Advanced software because it does a good job with layers of normalized data as well as handle multiple customers,” he says.

One interesting way that Hesterman uses the software is to hook his laptop up to a projector and show the field maps on a dry-erase whiteboard. “I’ve found this method very helpful to learn the history of fields, because clients can take a marker and draw areas that are always non-productive or outline other anomalies. And sometimes with their historical knowledge we redefine management zones, and then I can trace their marks with the software,” he says.

Hesterman likes SMS Advance’s comparison analysis capability, and how he can write equations. “I’ve used those several times to determine relationships between lime and yield, or phosphorous and yield, to help make future decisions,” he says.

And he has been impressed with Ag Leader’s ability to improve and upgrade the software. It’s a much stronger program than it used to be, and that’s why I made the decision to learn one software program very well, and chose this one.”

Check out these links to learn more about SMS software:
SMS Basic
SMS Advanced

Variable Rate Precision Farming — The Next Big Thing

Kurt LawtonEducation, Equipment, Farmers, Fertilizer, Guidance, Harvesting, Industry News, Planting, seed, Spraying, sustainability

My friend and former colleague, Farm Industry News senior editor Jodie Wehrspann, pegs variable-rate (VR) technology as the biggest overlooked story in precision agriculture in a recent piece she wrote. I couldn’t agree with her more. I’ve written many stories of progressive farmers who have been using this VR technology for years, and are making it pay, while learning its pros and cons. Every farmer should have a plan to adopt pieces of this technology.

Jodie writes, This current decade, which was ushered in by vehicle guidance, will be ushered out by variable-rate technology. Expect to see more information about sensors and actuators that make it possible to truly farm by the foot, tailor-applying each input according to the needs of each area of your fields. No longer are we talking about whether variable-rate technology pays, but what equipment growers need for variable-rate application and how it works.

The disheartening fact, to me, that she points out is that their latest reader survey shows that 31% of respondents have not used any precision farming equipment. And another 31% have only investigated or experimented with precision farming practices. Wow. That is flat out sad that growers and their bankers cannot see the potential savings and ROI of this equipment. Where was the investment, especially after the hugely profitable years on the farm during 2007 and 2008?

Perhaps it’s the age of farmers not wanting to invest in new technology during the twilight of their careers, or perhaps it’s fear. Or lack of knowledge. Or a lack of acres to make it pay. Or all of the above. And perhaps more rapid adoption will simply take a generational change.

Granted, the 37% of the survey who have incorporated one or more precision farming practices are reaping the rewards, and would never go back to their old practices. I’m sure this is the group that will be producing 80% or more of our food into the future. And VR technology will help them achieve efficiency and growth.

And if you’re looking for tips on how to grow your technology, check out the piece I posted last Friday.

Precision Ag Testing Of Biomass Crops

Kurt LawtonAerial Imagery, Ethanol, GPS, Remote sensing, Research, Satellite, sustainability

switchgrass

switchgrass

Biomass crops slated for ethanol production are gaining research dollars as scientists use precision agriculture remote sensing to study the issues and logistics of getting crops from field production to the biorefinery gate.

A lot has to happen to a plant from the time it first captures sunlight in a field to being dispensed as fuel at the pump. For corn-to-ethanol, that path is fairly predictable, but for energy crops such as Miscanthus or switchgrass the journey is still through somewhat uncharted territory.

“There’s not as much information on energy crops as we have on corn and soybeans and wheat and cotton. So we have to build on those past successes and learn,” said University of Illinois agricultural engineer K.C. Ting.

“Energy crops like Miscanthus cut differently; a corn harvester cannot be used to harvest energy crops. Maybe the closest comparison is hay, but that’s not a perfect comparison either.”

Ting is leading a team of Illinois researchers in a program funded by the energy firm BP in the Energy Biosciences Institute (EBI) — a partnership between the University of California-Berkeley, the Lawrence Berkeley National laboratory, and the University of Illinois.

“In the pre-harvest crop monitoring, we look at how precision agriculture, remote sensing, can be used to help growers understand how to manage these new crops,” Ting said. “Even harvesting has several steps: you have to detach it, you have to gather it, collect it, and resize it. Then you may have to either bale it or compact it. You have to load and unload many times from the field to the biorefinery. And in between you may need to store it. Sometimes the harvest window is small, but biorefineries need a year-long supply of constant high-quantity material. We have to find ways to keep it for a whole year in storage.”

Researchers at the University of Illinois use a variety of techniques for pre-harvest crop monitoring. A tower over a hundred of feet high with a multi-spectral camera watches over four nine-acre plots to study the health of the crop, a small unmanned helicopter can fly over crops to acquire images, and a cube-shaped frame with sensors is moved slowly across the crops. “Using these precision agriculture methods, we can help growers monitor crop growth, detect problem areas, and suggest what they need to do. With cotton, if you take an image, you can tell whether it is suffering from drought or insect or disease. But energy crops are so new, there’s minimum data,” said Ting.

Read more.