Management Zones

1. Management Zones Starr Holtz SOIL 4213 April 26, 2006

2. "Management zones are regions of a farm field that have been differentiated from the rest of the field for the purpose of receiving individual management attention."

3. Management zones are the smallest subdivision in which the field is managed. • Divided according to it’s production capabilities • seeding • chemical • fertilizer • lime http://www.pmcnet.com/id42.htm

4. Justification for delineating zones • Spatial variability • Soil properties • Soil texture • % Organic Matter • Water holding capacity • Nutrient levels • pH • Effects of past management

5. Creating Management Zones The natural variability of a specific field will determine the number of distinct zones. • “Satellite-Derived Management Zones" (SAMZ) • aerial photography is used to take an image of the field • a computer program is used to delineate zones • no soil sampling required http://www.pmcnet.com/id42.htm

6. Creating Management Zones • Digital Elevation Models (DEMs) in a Geographical Information System (GIS). • zones are created according to DEMs using GIS • no soil sampling required http://usgsquads.com/

7. Creating Management Zones • Site-Specific Basis • must include all the factors that affect management on a farm • utilizes all information available • the characteristics of a zone may not only depend on the physical field characteristics and the application equipment characteristics, but also the pattern in which the application equipment traverses the field • the minimum size of a zone is limited by the ability of the farmer to differentially manage regions within a field

8. Tools used to delineate zones • Bare soil aerial imagery • before rain • after rain • Topographic maps • Vegetation aerial imagery • early season • mid season • late-season • Soil surveys • Field boundaries • Maps of any field anomalies • Yield maps • GIS http://extension.missouri.edu

9. Tools Con’t • Soil test results • Pest scouting reports • Tile drain information • Zone size estimation • minimum zone size • No real maximum size • Field history information: • position of old roads, houses, etc. • maps of earthworks, cut and fill operations • areas of past differential fertilization • extent of irrigation (center pivot corners) • position of old field divisions, fence lines • position of old wetlands, or tree stands http://www.soiltesting.okstate.edu/

10. Management zones are dynamic • They must be evaluated and adjusted over time

11. 1939 http://extension.missouri.edu

12. 1956 http://extension.missouri.edu

13. 1968 http://extension.missouri.edu

14. 1982 http://extension.missouri.edu

15. 1990 http://extension.missouri.edu

16. pH http://extension.missouri.edu

17. Conclusions • Zone sampling results in lower sampling costs • Improves profitability and environmental protection • Manage in-field variability

18. Sources • http://nespal.cpes.peachnet.edu/pa/home/main.asp?targetDir=2 • http://www.nue.okstate.edu/ • http://extension.missouri.edu • http://www.apfo.usda.gov/ • Qamar-uz-Zaman and A.W. Schumann. 2006. Nutrient ManagementZones for Citrus Based on Variation in Soil Properties and Tree Performance. Precision agriculture. 7:1:45-63. • http://www.ppi-ar.org/ppiweb/ppibase.nsf/$webindex/article=772BE73B8525695A005A12E99F5E03CD • http://www.findarticles.com/ • Mzuku, M., F. Smith, L. MacDonald, D. Inman, R. Khosla, and R. Reich. 2005. Soil Science Society of America. 69:5:1572-1579. • http://notesmi.altarum.org/Conf/2ndag.nsf/0/c0be843cd3a1a061852567d700665251?OpenDocument • http://www.pmcnet.com/id42.htm • http://usgsquads.com/ • http://www.soiltesting.okstate.edu/

19. Questions?? “By knowledge of appropriate management zones less dynamic areas can be treated as homogenous units”