Wednesday, February 18, 2015
Dates to Remember
Putnam County Farm Bureau is preparing for an active March. This week we will have our second Legislative Update session, Saturday morning at 8 am. In March we will be holding our Annual Meeting on Tuesday, March 10th. Newsletters and cards are on the way. March 14th is AG DAY in Putnam County starting with breakfast, a program, and the mini farm fest open to all.
Tuesday, February 3, 2015
New Crop Management Tool
Crop management just got a little easier as a new precision agriculture tool has hit the Indiana market. Using big data to make on-farm decisions is quickly becoming the status quo in agriculture. The 360 Yield Center, a new precision agriculture tool, is designed to deliver those decisions says Trupointe Cooperative’s Logan Welker.
“It helps them out with nitrogen utilization and efficiency. Ensuring it with the weather patterns that they’ve experienced on their farms, it helps them judge what actual nitrogen rates they need to be using right at that moment.”
Welker says growers tend to question the rate of nitrogen they should be applying to their fields.
“This will help us to determine, judging by that farmer’s field, their location, their soil types, how much nitrogen to put out there as well as their seeding populations based on what type of hybrid they’re using.”
The math just works for growers: when you effectively apply nitrogen, you save on your bottom line.
“This will help them maintain their yields as well as help them save on nitrogen application. I mean, maintaining yields and increasing yields is where we want to be; but if we can do it more efficiently, I think that’s where this tool can really help out.”
Welker says for farmers who do invest in precision agriculture, they get paid back.
“A lot of it is determining how it functions and how it best functions on their farm. It’s something that’s real and it’s something that needs to be helped with. Growers needs to understand it’s not just spending money on things, it can also save them money on their inputs. That’s kind of a big discussion piece and understanding we have to go through.”
The 360 Yield Center has four different components:
360 SOILSCAN – provides you with zone-specific soil nitrate analysis results right in your field in as little as 5 minutes, with accuracy that’s comparable to lab results
360 COMMANDER – generates optimized, actionable seed, nitrogen and irrigation recommendations based on real-time information
360 UNDERCOVER – mounts easily to your 360 Y-DROP riser and glides smoothly through the field for targeted fungicide, insecticide and nutrient applications. It also gives you multiple nozzle choices, which allow you adjust your application speed and pressure accordingly
360 Y-DROP – gives you more control over when and where you apply nitrogen to your crops – now even up to tassel. And since corn uses 75 percent of nitrogen after the V10 stage, a late season nitrogen application can help improve yield in ways you haven’t been able to before
Get more information on the 360 Yield Center.
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