| POCATELLO -- Precision agriculture advancements are making
the method cheaper and easier to use.
The development of zone or region mapping, and the appearance of custom
precision applicators have made precision agriculture more accessible to
the average farmer, said agronomist Paul Stukenholtz, manager of
Stukenholtz Laboratories in Twin Falls.
Precision agriculture uses soil testing for soil type and nutrient
level and geographical and yield mapping software to vary fertilizer, seed
and irrigation rates within a single field. Global position technology is
used to control variable application rates accurately.
While supporters of the precision method herald lowered production
costs and improved yields, producers have been slow to take hold of it.
Only 20 were in attendance Tuesday at the fourth annual Idaho Precision
Agriculture Association conference at Idaho State University. And that's
in spite of being held in the same location as the University of Idaho's
annual potato school and Ag Expo, and on the same day as the Idaho Seed
Grower's Association convention.
The cost of special equipment and software has simply been too much,
and the complexity of the data too intimidating for many growers.
But that is changing, said Brent Rigby of Eagle Precision Application.
"We aren't stuck with grid mapping any more. Now we have more
flexibility to cater to the needs of an individual grower. As it gets
really easy to do it, more growers are catching on to it," he said.
Until recently, precision agriculture relied on grid mapping to vary
rates. Grid mapping divided a field into one-acre or four-acre sections.
However, the more recent refinement of zone mapping has simplified things.
Zone mapping divides a field into between four and five zones based on
similar soil and geographical conditions, as well as yield ranges. Because
zone mapping is less intensive than grids, the cost is nearly half that of
grid mapping.
Precision application by a custom applicator can cost $21 to $37 per
acre with the grid system, compared to $16 to $18 per acre with the zone
layout.
Both methods work, though results are slightly higher with grid mapping
than zone mapping as long as data is analyzed correctly, Rigby said.
But trying to wade through a morass of data just to get to the right
rates can be a monumental job, said Kip Gardner, owner of Eagle Precision
Application.
That's where precision applicators come in.
For the farmer looking to experiment with precision agriculture on a
small set of acreage, custom applicators make good sense because they can
not only handle all the rate calculations and data analysis, but they can
also teach the producer how to do it himself.
That way, if he decides to stick to the method, he can manage it
himself without the intimidation, Gardner said.
Hiring a precision applicator instead of the farmer doing it himself is
a bit more expensive, between $5 and $10 an acre. However, for a producer
to fit his own machinery with computers and software to vary rates, the
cost can be up to $2000 to $14,000, depending on the type of equipment he
already owns.
That can be a pretty big outlay for a producer to make without trying
out the technology first with the help of a custom applicator, Gardner
said.
The investment in precision agriculture more than pays for itself over
the long term, said Rising River area grower Greg Nickell. Nickell has
been using precision agriculture methods in his potato fields since 1996.
By using zone mapping, Nickell was able to determine which ground could
be more productive with more inputs, which could maintain good yields with
less, and which wasn't worth the money for the precision system.
It really smoothed out the weak spots in his fields, which showed in
his bottom line, Nickell said.
"It reduced my cost of fertilizer and seed $1 per hundredweight
over the last five years, which really counted for us with contracts going
down at least a $1 as well," he said.
By realizing which areas not to waste money on, growers can save as
much as thousands on fertilizers, water and seed, Stukenholtz said.
"With the price of fertilizers going up and the price of
commodities going down, growers need to put their fertilizers where they
are needed most instead of wasting the money," Gardner said. |