Niels
Member
- Location
- Netherlands/Suffolk
@warksfarmer I do follow some of the US forums and websites yes. Maybe they tend to post pictures of fancy no till or strip till kit of course that makes you think it is direct drilling all the way.
If you have a VRA/section control fertiliser spreader you can vary the application in sections in small blocks? It is being pioneered over here as well and with high value crops such as potatoes, onions, carrots etc.. there is a lot of money to be made. More so than in a crop of cereals or rape. For instance equal tuber size, skin quality, planting distance (amount of seed) etc.. Precision farming and VRA do help with these.
The approach that most farmers seem to apply is to collect data first for a period of 4-5 years. Most of our cropping plans revolve around a four or five year plan so this makes the most sense. Put all those maps of the crop growth, soil sampling and yield maps together (which you can do quite easily with todays software) and you can start ruling out causes to your problems. I think if you are going down the VRA route then this is the most sensible approach? Soil types can be very patchy as in the UK. By correctly mapping them and understanding their effects (by studying the maps) we can alter the potato planting distance accordingly and get a more even grade and/or higher yield. This is a money earner. With VRA wheat drilling yes you can put less seed on the light patches and more on the heavy patches but the return will be smaller (in terms of money made). Take a look at this blog from Ag Leader: http://www.agleader.com/blog/anyone-for-lettuce/ A Dutch farmer using precision farming and sensor to collect data about his lettuce crop. By doing this and applying fertiliser in the right amount he can produce lettuces with a more even size which make a better price.
I agree VRA and everything that comes with it has a long way to go and not all will be practical but saying it's b*llocks and useless is going a bit far. Maybe for some it is but there is also a lot to gain. Especially with specialist crops! Don't forget in Holland we farm on a post stamp and a VERY expensive one with land prices of €100.000/ha. If you can get 5-10% more yield or more profit per hectare of your land that is certainly worth thinking of! Also, we should be continuing to use this technique and help develop it. Gain knowledge and develop proper software. If no one had bought a Toyota Prius hybrid technology on cars would have never been further developed. It's the same with precision agriculture in a way.
If you have a VRA/section control fertiliser spreader you can vary the application in sections in small blocks? It is being pioneered over here as well and with high value crops such as potatoes, onions, carrots etc.. there is a lot of money to be made. More so than in a crop of cereals or rape. For instance equal tuber size, skin quality, planting distance (amount of seed) etc.. Precision farming and VRA do help with these.
The approach that most farmers seem to apply is to collect data first for a period of 4-5 years. Most of our cropping plans revolve around a four or five year plan so this makes the most sense. Put all those maps of the crop growth, soil sampling and yield maps together (which you can do quite easily with todays software) and you can start ruling out causes to your problems. I think if you are going down the VRA route then this is the most sensible approach? Soil types can be very patchy as in the UK. By correctly mapping them and understanding their effects (by studying the maps) we can alter the potato planting distance accordingly and get a more even grade and/or higher yield. This is a money earner. With VRA wheat drilling yes you can put less seed on the light patches and more on the heavy patches but the return will be smaller (in terms of money made). Take a look at this blog from Ag Leader: http://www.agleader.com/blog/anyone-for-lettuce/ A Dutch farmer using precision farming and sensor to collect data about his lettuce crop. By doing this and applying fertiliser in the right amount he can produce lettuces with a more even size which make a better price.
I agree VRA and everything that comes with it has a long way to go and not all will be practical but saying it's b*llocks and useless is going a bit far. Maybe for some it is but there is also a lot to gain. Especially with specialist crops! Don't forget in Holland we farm on a post stamp and a VERY expensive one with land prices of €100.000/ha. If you can get 5-10% more yield or more profit per hectare of your land that is certainly worth thinking of! Also, we should be continuing to use this technique and help develop it. Gain knowledge and develop proper software. If no one had bought a Toyota Prius hybrid technology on cars would have never been further developed. It's the same with precision agriculture in a way.