MicroEssentials SZ Fertilizer vs. None
Aerial Crop Performance Mapping: Quantifying Economic
Impact
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MicroEssentials SZ Fertilizer vs. None
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STEPS
TO INTERPRETATION
CORRELATE - Compare patterns of relative crop conditions on the map versus field history and what you see on the ground. Draw boundaries around zones of similar crop conditions. CALIBRATE - Quantify the estimated yield differences between the good, fair, poor zones in the field. CALCULATE - determine economic cost/benefit by calculating yield differences by zone x acres x price, less cost to fix. FIELD BACKGROUND The north half of the image is 2009 ridge tilled, furrow irrigated soybeans. Alternating sets of twelve 30"row strips had MicroEssentials SZ dry fertilizer (12n-40p-10s-1zn) injected 8" into the top of the ridges versus no added fertilizer. Note the crop response where the fertilizer was added versus not. Furrow irrigation pipe is along the east edge of the field with water flowing west. South half of the image is 2009 corn. NUMBERED COMMENTS 1. Zone of good crop with little difference between treatments (4.7 acres). 2. Zone of stressed areas (12.3 acres) with marked difference. Difference in yield estimates between good (fertilized) and poorer (not-fertilized) areas is NNN bu/acre or $ /acre. 3. Zone of good crop (15.4 acres) with patches of stressed areas where additional fertilizer improved performance by NNN bu/acre or $ bushels per acre (based on pre-harvest yield samples between good and bad areas). 4. Zone of poorly performing soybeans (4.8 acres) due to ?????. Yield here is NNN bu/acre less than the good parts of the field. 5. Strip of good corn because of ?????? Soils on this farm are fairly uniform. Source: USDA SSURGO Soils data. Topography is mostly flat on this farm. Source 10m USGS NED converted to contours. Natural Color (R,G,B) images are unable to fully detail crop health patterns because they do not include NearInfrared (NIR) light reflected from the crop canopy. NIR shows the relative volume and healthiness of leaves. |