Variable Rate Fert

[bgmb]

ado, in our area the low areas and high spots could either be your lowest yield or highest yield depending on how much rain we get. So to me variable rate is pretty pointless unless you can predict how much rain we are going to get during the growing season. Variable rate for the most part is just another way for somebody to get your money.

I totally agree with gust and saskfarmer once everything else is perfect then start worrying about variable rate and even then over the long haul I don't think it will pay.

I am dead against hiring somebody to do the maps for you, if you are going to do the work yourself it might pay.

[ado089]

Okay I'm not trying to sell anyone on
here. I did make my own maps so the only
additional cost I have is two extra soil
samples per field, and I may not even do
that next year now that I have the
pattern figured out. It works great for
me but I also can't see across most of
my fields. That said I would suggest
that even in these wet years the hills
don't have the potential of the gently
sloped well drained areas and even in
ideal years the low spots have better
nutrient cycling requiring lower needs,
and they certainly need less if they are
under water. I'm definitely not saying
it is necessary or beneficial on all
acres or your farm but I do think it's
naive to ignore this technology. I'm
looking to explore why so many are
having a negative experience with VR
even though the theory is sound.

[TOM4CWB]

bgmb,

I believe you have hit the nail on the head.... MOISTURE/heat units/timing are the biggest variable factors for yeild on our dryland farm as well.

If there are bad soil patches... and headland issues... great to take care of these with VR is area is enough to justify. On irrigation land VR technology makes the most sense in the south where more heat units.

[craig]

We got into variable rate because we were throwing money away on our high organic soils. Too much fertility led to lodging and poor crops. Simple investing more and getting less. You could argue that soil tests are also a waste because you can't predict the weather for the coming season. Everyones situation is different. Just because it doesn't work for you doesn't mean it won't work for someone else. We are also building a knowledge base as we go. VR proved a failure many years ago because people went into it with preconceived ideas. We continue to learn and try to improve whatever system we use.

[mbratrud]

The past few years we have been Variable Rating as well.

We used Crop Pro consulting from Naicam to Veris our land, then we ground truthed and worked with them to develope 5 zones on our fields.

Each zone is then sampled by my wife and we use Western Ag Labs forecast model to write the perscription. This allows us to model water scenarios for each zone.

This year was the first year we really got to test it out (because we didn't flood) we definately seen a difference in the zones for N availabily from 10lbs available to over 60lbs available.

By having that knowledge we were able to vary our Fert and Seeding rates allowing us to acheive yield targets even out our maturity. At the end of the day saved about $30K on our farm without sacrificing yeild.

Every year is going to be different and just because we saved this year does not mean the same will be true in the future but its one more peice of information to make good decisions on including crop planning.

For example Guys that put soybeans on chemfallow had poorer yield results compared to stubble in our area and the theory is high N delayed nodulation. had they known that would they have changed field choices? On our farm we did.

Are soil analysis gosphel? No but its information and how you use it is important