Sensors Gauge Nitrogen Needs


BETTY VALLE GEGG-NAEGER MidAmerica Farmer Grower


Wendroth, soil physicist at the Univer- sity of Kentucky, Lexington. He explained that farmers download-


T


ing a yield map from their combine monitors may notice that there’s an enormous spatial variability in corn yield. “In this case, the lowest yield class is


about 50 bushel per acre, the highest about 150 bushel per acre,” he ex- plained. This has occurred even though the


farmer has applied the same amount of nitrogen fertilizer, pesticides and everything else everywhere in the field. “So with the same amount of fertil-


izer we have such a wide range in yields and that’s a problem,” Wendroth said. “The problem is, if some areas had not received so much nitrogen they still would have yielded well; and other areas could have had more ni- trogen in order to yield even better. “On the other hand, having applied a


given amount of nitrogen in some areas resulting in low yield, what hap- pened to all that nitrogen? Was it lost? So we want to use sensors similar to those we have in our homes, a ther- mostat on our air conditioning or heat- ing system that controls temperature efficiently by only turning on the pump when needed. That’s the idea of these crop sensors,” he explained. Wendroth displayed three different


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he use of crop sensors for the op- timization of nitrogen application was presented recently by Dr. Ole


sensors that were used in nitrogen ap- plication experiments. He noted that field soils are variable and throughout a long field one can expect tremendous soil changes. The optical sensors use canopy reflectance of light to measure the nitrogen needs of the plant. “The reflectance of light in early


spring is what the farmer sees with the dark intensity of green,” he said. “Well fertilized wheat or other crops show a darker green.” Wendroth said that even if a farmer


has only one or two Greenseeker sen- sors attached to the boom of the sprayer it is better than nothing. “With sensors at about every 10 to 12


foot along the boom we can still see a relationship to yields, so if the farmer wants to go that close down in the ap- plication it can be done,” he added. “Nowadays sprayers are designed in a way that the same rate is applied over the entire width of the boom, 90 foot and the largest booms are 120 feet. I think it is only a matter of a short time we can apply different rates of fertilizer from that segment of the boom, maybe 10 to 12 foot can be individually driven by the sprayer computer. “Another thing is, those sensors right


now are certainly expensive but you also have to appreciate the value that results for the environment. We can certainly reduce nitrogen losses, but we can also use the nitrogen more effi- ciently at the spot where we need it,” he summed.


∆ BETTY VALLE GEGG-NAEGER: Sen-


ior Staff Writer, MidAmerica Farmer Grower


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Dr. Ole Wendroth, soil physicist at the University of Kentucky,


Lexington, explains how the use of crop sensors can optimize application of nitrogen. Photo by John LaRose, Jr.


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6• MidAmerica Farmer Grower / February 24, 2012


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