Finding Benefits of Precision Farming

13 May 2011

TheUK based company Velcourt is clear about the benefits of autosteer precision guidance. Two of the company's farm managers share their findings with Louise Impey from Farmers Weekly Interactive.

Autosteer precision guidance has been in place for the last three years at Velcourt-managed Stamford Farms in Lincolnshire and manager Jason Turnbull shares: "This business has a huge geographical spread - about 45 miles - and encompasses a range of soil types across 3,400ha (8,400 acres). So the accuracy that it brings to our field operations has been very valuable." The resulting reduction in overlap has been responsible for the use of less fuel and fewer crop inputs, he says. "The benefits have been financial and environmental, as well as easing the management burden and virtually eliminating operator error. "Due to our geographical spread, too many repeaters were required from the base station, making RTK too expensive. To combat this, we have been using VRS RTK since last year, taking its signal from the phone modem."

The same can't be said about some of the other precision farming developments being used, he explains, as it's harder to link them with results. But all have helped to streamline the farm's paper trail and demonstrate accountability, neither of which should be under-estimated, he notes."There's a great deal of paperwork involved in a modern farming business, all of which takes up a manager's time and often involves duplication."

Mr Turnbull is part of the Velcourt steering group on precision farming, so he's had the opportunity to look at various options and compare different systems. He is also using variable nitrogen rate applications and yield mapping on the farm, but it is variable seed rate technology which he believes offers the most potential. "We've got most soil types and almost every agronomic challenge - from resistant blackgrass to high slug populations," he says. "So the seed rate technology, which is used in conjunction with soil type scans, is of interest." Being able to alter seed rate on the move is not a new concept, he comments. "We've always done it manually. But the electrical conductivity scanning of fields to produce soil type zones has made it more precise and means that human error can be taken out." He adds that matching seed rate to field zone potential should give more even crops. "It also allows us to overlay our weed maps and increase seed rate, where there's bad blackgrass, for example, or to try and combat pest damage issues. Variable rate application of slug pellets is an exciting prospect and will seriously help us reduce our use of metaldehyde."

Three different systems are being tested this year, reveals Mr Turnbull, with invited companies all scanning a field and producing a variable seed rate map. The fields have since been drilled according to the results. Variable rate nitrogen applications are also being investigated at Stamford Farms, for mainly economic reasons. "We use £500,000 worth of fertiliser on this farm, so it's very important that it's being applied in the right place." Yara's N-Sensor, SOYL and Agleader are in the line-up, all of which have comparable costs. "But the back-up and support varies, as does their ease of use," comments Mr Turnbull. Getting the crop canopy right by measuring it and then applying the optimum amount of nitrogen is the aim, he explains, as that should lift yields. "This technology isn't necessarily about using less nitrogen, but it is about improved targeting." It's also important to know when the land is not going to respond to more nitrogen, he adds. "That sort of detail can be picked up from yield mapping. There's no point pushing an area which has underperformed consistently." At this stage, the issue he has with variable rate fertiliser applications is that he can't guarantee that good results are due to the technology. "There are so many variables involved in growing a wheat crop, that a higher yield can't be attributed to precision farming alone."

Source: Farmers Weekly Interactive, more case studies to be found there too