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PRODUCTS/SERVICES
Agronomy
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Variable Rate Planting
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Wednesday, September 1, 2010
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Click here to view PDF of our Variable Rate Planting Solutions brochure |
Customers in our local area are adapting to variable rate seeding populations at a rapid rate, and as they do, NuWay Cooperative is there with them, trying to help them integrate their information and put this valuable technology to use. Many growers are adapting this technology as they invest in new planters; however, more and more growers are also starting to look at the options available to retrofit their current planter. In 2009, NuWay Cooperative wrote variable rate planting prescriptions for growers on about 1200 acres of corn and 750 acres of soybeans. In 2010, we are estimating that we will write prescriptions on about 7000 acres of corn, and about 1000 acres of soybeans. As we move forward, we fully expect adaptation of this technology to continue at a rapid rate, and are making preparations to handle the extra workload.
Growers often ask which pieces of information they need in order to create an effective variable rate planting prescription. Prescriptions can be created using only a single layer of information, but, as always, the more layers of information that can be used the better. While there are certainly many different pieces of data that can come into play when writing prescriptions, there are two items in particular that are important when first sitting down to write a VRT planting prescription. The first would be yield data. Past yield history is a very important item, because it tells you exactly what is happening out in the field and where it is happening at. Multiple years of yield data can be effectively combined to create management zones that tell you how much variation is in the field along with where the variation is occurring. The second item would be electrical conductivity (EC) maps, which show the varying soil texture (amounts of sand, silt, and clay) within each field. We encourage growers to invest in EC mapping, due to the fact that soil survey maps are proving to be inaccurate. Using soil survey maps as the only piece of information used when writing variable rate planting prescriptions is not advised.
NuWay likes to take a comprehensive approach to prescription writing, in order to give you the most accurate prescription possible, in turn, giving you the best chance to succeed with your population changes. We like to correlate the yield data and EC data together to derive our primary zones of change, whether it be increasing or decreasing planting populations in those zones. If yield data and EC data do not correlate in a given area, we may be less inclined to recommend a significant population change in that location in the field. Along with yield and EC data, we also pay close attention to crop rotation, overall fertility in the field, and especially which hybrid or variety will be planted in the field, as different hybrids or varieties can have different advantages or disadvantages related to population changes. Also, as an added feature, we like to incorporate a “check block” system approach in our prescriptions, so that a grower has a way to gauge the success of the prescription that was written, and can use this information to make adjustments the next time a prescription is written for that particular field. Finally, we always like to sit down with the grower we are working with, first, to get a feel for the growers comfort level when it comes to population ranges within a field, and second, to overview the final prescription with the grower in order to make sure that what was created was what the grower had in mind. As you can probably see, there is a lot of time and effort put into writing successful variable rate planting prescriptions, and the more pieces of information you use, the more successful you will likely be.
Also, when it comes to integrating variable rate planting into your operation, we always try and encourage growers to plan ahead. It is very important to have quality yield data that is ready to use, and more years of yield data are better than just one. Plus, it is certainly better to have your EC mapping done in advance, rather than trying to get the process completed right before you plant. EC mapping information has a 15-20 year lifespan, and can be done in the summer or fall, giving you plenty of opportunity to plan ahead and gather the information well before you need to utilize it.
NuWay Cooperative understands that all customers are different, so we choose to offer multiple tiers of service and support when it comes to helping you integrate variable rate planting prescriptions into your operation. We also offer a “Try Before you Buy” opportunity for EC mapping, so that growers can experience that service on their own acres before committing to pay for the service. And finally, we do our best to try and work with all different equipment and monitor platforms, so that no matter what line of equipment you are working with, we can offer in-field support to make sure that your prescriptions work the way that they are supposed to work.
If variable rate planting populations are in your future, please contact us to set up an appointment so that we can explain our process in greater detail, and show you how this technology can work for you to make your operation more profitable. Current customers, as well as non-customers are welcome.
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