1 / 34

Sensors and Fertility Management

Sensors and Fertility Management. Randy Taylor Extension Engineer, Machinery Systems Biosystems and Ag Engineering. Reference Strips for Nitrogen. Oklahoma State has recommended nitrogen reference (rich) strips to assist in season nitrogen management for corn and wheat

steven-edwards
Download Presentation

Sensors and Fertility Management

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Sensors and Fertility Management Randy Taylor Extension Engineer, Machinery Systems Biosystems and Ag Engineering

  2. Reference Strips for Nitrogen • Oklahoma State has recommended nitrogen reference (rich) strips to assist in season nitrogen management for corn and wheat • Recently OSU has implemented Ramped Calibration Strips (RCS) to allow visual and sensor assessment of nitrogen management

  3. 586 farmer’s fields have had Ramp Calibration Strips placed in them 2006-07 Ramp Program

  4. Documenting Impact • Each RCS has an associated contact person who will • collect sensor data. • complete the data sheet. • Many were lost due to grazing, drought, or freeze.

  5. What is a RCS?

  6. Reading Ramp Strips

  7. Can the Sensor Perform?

  8. Statewide SBNRC  22 lbs/ac RCS  54 lbs/ac Garfield County SBNRC  27 lbs/ac RCS  60 lbs/ac Recommendations

  9. Statewide Data Summary • 117 fields with sufficient data to draw inferences • Applied N was 73% of “typical” topdress rates • Applied N was 147% of RCS recommendation • Applied N was 290% of the SBNRC recommendation

  10. RCS Applicators

  11. RCS Applicator Components

  12. We constructed a sprayer with sets of 4 StreamJet nozzles from TeeJet per location. Nozzles are spaced on 24 inch centers. The four nozzles are an 01, 02, 04, and 08. We are using a design pressure of 40 psi.

  13. Nozzle Control RCS Starts Each step lasts approximately 10 feet. RCS Ends GPM flow rates are for 28% fertilizer solution.

  14. Rendel Farms Applicator • 7 tip sets on 20” center • 4 solenoid control valves • 50 gallon poly tank • PTO-driven roller pump • 1” supply line • ½” spray line

  15. Johnson Farms Applicator

  16. Boom Width Ramps 3 nozzles together to make a 5 ft. section of one rate. A challenge is the large rate steps at the higher end.

  17. EXTENSION AND ANALYSISOF THE RAMP CALIBRATION STRIP FERTILIZATION STRATEGY D.E. Edmonds, D.B. Arnall, B. Chung, M.C. Daft, K. Girma, C.R. Dotson, B.B. England, S.L. Holtz, C.J. Mack, W.R. Raun, J.B. Solie, R.K. Taylor, B.S. Tubaña, P.L. Turner, O.S. Walsh, D.L. Zavodny ASA-CSSA-SSSA 2007 New Orleans, LA

  18. INTRODUCTION Nitrogen Use Efficiency (NUE) in the world for cereal grain production ~ 33% Crop production directly related to availability of N Need methodologies that consider: Crop production practices Aesthetic qualities Economical analysis Environmental stewardship

  19. Ramp Calibration Strip Fertilization Strategy Concept of visually evaluating plots with incremental rates of pre-plant N Identify minimum N rate required for maximum production

  20. RAMP Calibration Strip 224 0 17 34 51 68 85 112 129 N Rate, kg/ha 224 34 17 0 224

  21. March 2007, The Furrow, Larry Reichenberger

  22. PURPOSEOFSTUDY Implement & Evaluate the RCS strategy in the following crops: Alfalfa Bermudagrass Corn Cotton Grain Sorghum Extend the RCS strategy in the following crop: Wheat

  23. MATERIALS&METHODS Alfalfa, Grain Sorghum 4 replications of 5 treatments + 1 or 2 N-Ramp(s) Complete Randomized Block Design Experiment site – R.L. Westerman Irrigation Research Center located west of Stillwater, OK.

  24. Grain SorghumApplication of N-Ramp StrategyR.L. Westerman Irrigation Research Center at Lake Carl Blackwell N W E 3 m 4.25 m 15.25 m S Rep. 1 28.5 6 m 22.5 21 Rep. 2 15 52 m 29 m 1.5 m 13.5 Rep. 3 7.5 6 Rep. 4 0 15 12 9 6 3 Plot size: 3 m x 6 m Alley: 1.5 m 4 replications Ramp: 4.25 m x 52 m

  25. ALFALFA– RESULTS • Inconclusive for 2007 • Limited number of cuttings • Average Yields • 1st Cutting • 5607 kg ha-1 • 2nd Cutting • 3734 kg ha-1

  26. GRAIN SORGHUM– RESULTS Average Yields Gross Return: N cost = $1.01 / kg, Sorghum = $0.125 / kg

  27. WHEAT –EXTENSIONOFN-RCSAPPROACH Fall 2006 N-Ramps placed in 586 farmer fields throughout Oklahoma covering a service area of 81,000 hectares

  28. Garfield County Ramp Strips March 22, 2007

  29. February/March 2007 County Extension Agents Sensed N-Ramps Provided top-dress N recommendations to producers Collected data for submission to N-Ramp extension team

  30. EXTENSIONOF N-RCS APPROACHIN WHEAT– RESULTS Average Typical Top-Dress N Rate 125 kg N / ha Average RCS N-Recommendation 60 kg N / ha Average Actual Top-Dress N Applied 90 kg N / ha 50 % more than the RCS recommendation 73 % of typical top-dress N rate Represents savings of $ 4.38 ha-1 Represents total savings of $ 354,375

  31. CONCLUSIONS Current practices for making mid-season fertilizer N recommendations in most crops are not consistent from one region to the next The N-Ramp Approach: Using automated gradients of pre-plant N fertilizer to determine mid-season N rates based on plant response Applied methodology integrating farmer input and insight in the decision making process Provides visual mid-season alternative approach for N fertilization

  32. EXTENSION AND ANALYSISOF THE RAMP CALIBRATION STRIP FERTILIZATION STRATEGY QUESTIONS www.nue.okstate.edu/ DANIEL E. EDMONDS

More Related