NEED TO KNOW
▶ Carried out on three farms in Lincolnshire and Leicestershire ▶ Fields split with half flat rate and half variable rate ▶ Variable seed, nitrogen, potash and phosphate ▶ Overall rates same for both treatments
beds – upping seed rates will help even up crops.
Seed map Once the layers have been imported, farmers simply enter their target plant population and drilling date. The programme will generate the drilling maps. For this field, which the farmer deemed to be even, seed rates varied consid- erably between 189kg/ha and 228kg/ha. “It just takes a small difference in the inputs (soil
type, seed-bed quality) to have a bigger effect on outputs like seed rates,” explains Mr Strelczuk. Then in spring, crop biomass was mapped us- ing satellite to generate a fertiliser plan. The total nitrogen applied was the same for both halves of the field. The only difference was that the last split varied across the precision farm- ing area. Yield results show the plot managed using the farm’s standard practice yielded 9.98t/ha, while the precision farmed area de-
Case study: Leicestershire farm
Frazer Jolly is looking to adopt more preci- sion farming practices next season after see- ing a 1.4t/ha increase in wheat yield last sea- son. The field selected by Mr Jolly and his agronomist Sally Morris has a history of vari- able crop yields. His aim was to improve es- tablishment of a crop of Illustrious wheat. Looking at the wheat yield maps for 2016, one end of the field outyielded the other. Oil- seed rape in 2017 also showed variable per- formance. The field is predominantly sandy loam with a clay loam strip through the mid- dle. A variable seed map was generated us- ing soil type, seed-bed conditions and slug pressure.
Detailed plant counts revealed that the preci- sion-farmed half had a much more uniform crop. The farm standard showed huge varia- tion of 80-220 plants/sq m. “There was a clear benefit using Omnia, with crop establishment being more even,” says Mr Jolly. Also the bio- mass map was used to vary fertiliser. The end result was a 1.4t/ha yield lift (£231/ha (€ 262) at £165/t (€ 188)). “There was a clear line be- tween the two halves of the field,” he recalls. The poorest-yielding areas in 2016 were actu- ally the highest-yielding in 2018. Looking at the cost-of-production map, some areas were down at £81/t, while the highest was £160t (€ 182).
livered an extra 0.47t/ha. Crucially, this result- ed in the cost of producing 1t of wheat falling by £9/t (€ 10).
Future Buoyed by the yield benefit of 0.6t/ha with a precision approach, Hutchinsons is expanding the trial this season. Mr Strelczuk says winter wheat has already been drilled across 10 farms and they are planning to look at spring crop- ping on a further 20 farms.
Agronomist Sally Morris and farmer Frazer Jolly.
“It was incredible to see the differences in cost on the map,” says Mr Jolly. “We need to do more precision farming to produce better crops in these poorer-performing areas.”
▶ FUTURE FARMING | 22 February 2019 27
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