ARS | Publication request: Crop Production and Conservation Planning Using Precision Agriculture Information

Submitted to: Asa-Cssa-Sssa Annual Meeting Abstracts
Publication Acceptance Date: July 28, 2004
Publication Date: October 1, 2004
Citation: Kitchen, N.R., Sudduth, K.A., Myers, D.B., Lerch, R.N., Massey, R.E., Alberts, E.E., Sadler, E.J., Palm, H.P., Donald, W.W., Hummel, J.W., Kremer, R.J. 2004. Crop Production And Conservation Planning Using Precision Agriculture Information [abstract] [cd-Rom]. Asa-Cssa-Sssa Annual Meeting Abstracts.

Technical Abstract: Farmers who have invested in yield and soil mapping are anxious to know how long-term spatial data can be used for more profitable management. The objective of this study was to determine how a database of mapped yield and soil information can be used for developing a precision agriculture plan. Yield and soil variability were measured for a decade on a 36-ha claypan soil field in Missouri. Corn and soybean yield maps were transformed into profit maps using actual input expenses, estimated land and equipment costs, and local grain prices. For this field, soybean was generally more profitable and more temporally stable than corn. Prominent features of the field associated with loss or low profit included field-edge trees, a surface water drainage way (soybeans only), and eroded side-slopes where topsoil is thin. While producers know of poor yielding areas, profit maps quantify the degree of loss associated with trying to crop these areas. We concluded that the potential for increased profit is high when addressing site-specific areas with specific problem-solving practices, particularly for chronically low-yielding areas. Other soil and water quality monitoring and modeling research has shown that some of these low-profit areas were also areas contributing significantly to water quality degradation and are in need of conservation measures. These results were used to design a precision agriculture system that concurrently addresses production, conservation, and environmental goals.