Precision farming in Ukraine today is a mainstream. There is much talk about it. More and more companies are introducing different elements of it, mostly differentiated fertilizer application (VRA). And rightly so, we cannot delay, because as we move to precision agriculture, the world is already digital.

But differentiated fertilizer application is a trend that does not fit all. For anyone (and most), implementing this technology can become a jackpot: significantly optimize costs, improve fertilizer efficiency, improve yields, and more. But there are times when variable rates of input will not have an impressive result. How to determine if precision farming technologies are right for your farm?

Level One: Check your maps

To see if precision farming will bring you a “jackpot”, just look at your agrochemical field maps. To do this, analyze all the land under cultivation. Pay close attention to the sampling process. It should be remembered that the recommendations of soil analysis for fertilizer application can never be more accurate than the accuracy of soil sampling.

After obtaining the data of agrochemical analysis, cartograms of the distribution of nutrition across the field are created. The more colorful the card is for each indicator, the greater the effect of VRA technology you will feel. The correct soil analysis algorithm will give you confidence in the feasibility of investing in the development of recommendation cards, special machinery and equipment. The investments and their return will vary depending on the technology used, the variety of fields and their area.

Level two: Performance areas and task cards

If you are convinced that VRA-technology will have a “reason” in your farm, go to the next level – developing a recommendation card for variable fertilizer rates. This requires the identification of unique soil management areas. How? AgriLab has developed the following algorithm:

1. First, the most important field-specific soil properties that have low, medium, and high productivity potential must be analyzed. These variables may include soil organic matter levels, depth of tilth-top soil, depth of groundwater, soil texture change, soil salinity, pH, available levels of N, P, K and other macro and microelements. Also, to determine the best management areas for resource and productivity in individual field locations, the information used may include relief plan, conductivity, yields and satellite imagery.
2. Find out how the nutritional level in the field and across designated areas change.
3. Turn to the history of a particular field, be less dismissive of the observations of agronomists, especially those who work on this field for a long time.
4. Based on the analysis of field data, determine the optimum types of fertilizers and rate for each management area. And to take into account the economic component: the ultimate goal of this “game” is profit maximization.

It seems like everything is simple, but it must be borne in mind: any slight mischance can negate all efforts.

Who has hold all the cards?

Farm managers who decide to inculcate precision farming often ask: can an agronomist independently develop a recommendation for the use of variable rate nutrients? The answer is no. No matter what a highly qualified specialist he was.

The fact is that the creation of maps and the development of recommendations requires skills to work with geoinformation systems (GIS), access to a variety of data sources, as well as knowledge of soils, agronomy and agrochemistry to properly interpret them. It also takes time, knowledge and additional resources. There is no simple and easy process for developing task maps for all soils and crops.

Today, there are many similar products on the market today for creating task maps that allow you to distribute the estimated average need for fertilizers to different zones. This approach is incorrect and does not provide an algorithm that takes into account the properties of each heterogeneous zone and the data of the points of these zones, their potential for obtaining a planned or effective yield. Each fertilizer rate or the need for nutrients should be calculated based on the results of agrochemical analysis. So, introducing precision farming, carefully think through your every step – what and how will you do?

Jackpot – how much?

What can the economy achieve by introducing VRA technology? How does precision farming affect the result?

The more variegated the field, the more effective is the introduction of variable rate technology. The general advantages are as follows:

1. Automation, accuracy and quality of fertilizer application. The more automated processes companies implement in their technological operations, the more money they can save by increasing production and efficiency;
2. A potential increase in yield due to more effective fertilizer based on the actual needs of plants and field variability;
3. Increase profits by redistributing the same fertilizer in a more productive part of the field. This increases revenues without increasing costs;
4. Savings on fertilizers, provided that the field has highly productive zones with a high level of provision with elements or low productivity zones with no need for fertilizers;
5. Protection of the environment from overfertilization of areas with a very high level of provision with elements and leaching into subsurface waters, in particular mobile elements.

Of course, without the introduction of specific numbers and examples of “jackpot” from the inoculation of precision farming technology does not cause such excitement. How much is needed to invest and how much can you “raise” additional profits from the field? About this in the next blog on the real cases of those who have already tried VRA … Stay “in the game”.

Yaroslav Boyko, CEO of AgriLab, official representative of the International Organization for Precision Agriculture (ISPA) in Ukraine

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