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