Overview of project:

Crop-Based Strategy for In-Season N Management of Corn

for IFAFS grant "Soil thematic mapping and crop-based strategies for site-specific management"

Project summary

Over-application of nitrogen (N) on corn has resulted in elevated levels of N in ground and surface waters. Our goal is to reduce these over-applications by using remote sensing to direct fertilizer only to areas needing N at times when the crop can efficiently utilize the N. Previous research, culminating in field tests in 2000, indicated that canopy reflectance can be used to identify N deficiency during the time that the crop is still able to take up N and overcome the deficiency (i.e., stages V8 to R2). Given the option of using high-clearance applicators in-season, farmers can reduce preseason N applications. The objectives of this project are to verify recommendations on canopy reflectance thresholds for triggering in-season N applications, field test sensor/applicator systems at a scale appropriate to farmers, and educate professionals in use of the systems. Imagery from satellites and aircraft will be used to identify fields and areas within fields that need additional N. EarthScan, the Nebraska Agricultural Technology Association (responsible for key aspects of farmer participation, fieldwork, project evaluation, and impact assessment), data warehouse provider mPower3, software developer MapShots, Inc., and the Nebraska Independent Crop Consultants Association will serve as partners to implement the field tests and develop business-to-business-to-university data linkages.

At our projected cost for the system (<$10,000) we believe commercial applicators across the country can adopt the technology and provide profitable services for in-season N management. The project will document acceptance of the technology, impacts on farm practice, and improvements in fertilizer use.

Purpose of this Web site

This site is designed to share information on project goals, activities and accomplishments. Once the project is officially started we will keep research data in password-protected locations and move other pages to a public folder.

Project description

The body of the proposal contains the justification for the work, the anticipated impacts, and the plans for research and education activities. John Shanahan and Jim Schepers, USDA/ARS/SWCRU, and Bob Caldwell, Dept. of Agronomy and Horticulture/SEREC/NEREC, coauthored the proposal.

Program background

The IFAFS Request for Proposals guided the development of the project. On March 16 the Federal Register published the RFP specifically for the "Application of Geospatial and Precision Technologies Program" part of IFAFS, under which our project was funded. NASA joined USDA in offering the precision ag component of the research program.

Key dates:

March 15, 2001: Opportunity to discuss plans for on-farm research component during On-Farm Research workshop, 210 Keim Hall, UN-L East Campus, Lincoln, Nebraska.
March 19, 2001, Nebraska Agricultural Technologies Association board meeting.
March 20, 2001, Nebraska Independent Crop Consultants Association board meeting.
April 11, 2001: Letter of Intent sent to Washington.
April 23, 2001: Office of Research Grants and Contracts technical review
May 9, 2001: Proposal received in Washington.
June 25 to 29, 2001: Proposals reviewed by program panel.
June 10, 2001: Verbal confirmation that proposal was selected for funding, with some modifications required.
June 31, 2001: Target date for receiving written instructions from USDA/CSREES program administrators.
August 20, 2001: Meeting with principal investigators of the "Improved Acquisition and Usage of Thematic Soil Maps for Site-Specific Management" (Achim Dobermann, Richard Ferguson, and Slava Adamchuk) to plan the merger of the projects.
August 22, 2001: Budget and paperwork revised to reflect new combined project, titled "Soil Thematic Mapping and Crop-Based Strategies for Site-Specific Management."
December 10 to 14, 2001: UN-L's Crop Modeling workshop, Lincoln, NE.
December 17, 18, 2001: Visit by counterparts at Oklahoma State University working on in-season N management for wheat. Agreed to begin work on active sensor system called GreenSeeker(tm). UN-L will receive the sensors in late spring 2002.
February 5, 2002: Nebraska Agricultural Technologies Association Conference and Trade Show, with presentations:
- "In-season nitrogen management of corn," by Caldwell, Shanahan and Schepers
- "Realistic applications of remote sensing in agriculture," by Dennis Francis and Jim Schepers
- "Merging agriculture through crop record keeping," by Ted Macy
February 14, 2002: Presented an overview of the project to the USDA/CSREES Program Leader for sensor development.
March 1,2, 2002: Field Operations Data Model Implementers Workshop, Pioneer Hi-Bred headquarters, Johnston, IA. Received source code for creating a Field Operations Device Driver for the sensor/applicator system.
March 19,20,21, 2002: Spring Break workshops in Farm-level Mapping, Keim 210, UN-L East Campus, Lincoln, NE.
July, 2002: Poster presentation on in-season N management at the annual ESRI conference.
July 10, 2002: Field tour given to NeATA sub-committee (Norm Hancock).
New:April 30, 2002: Request for quotations announced for aerial photography.
- Closing date for receipt of quotations: May 8, 2002.
- Notification of acceptance of quotes: May 9, 2002.
2002 Data:
Five dates of imagery.(password protected)
Over six dates of corresponding SPAD readings and on-the-go sensor data collected
Planned dates:
- November 10 to 14, 2002: Annual meetings of the American Society of Agronomy.
- January 6 to 10, 2003: Fifth annual Crop Modeling for Environment-Specific Management workshop, Keim 210, UN-L East Campus, Lincoln, NE.

Completed

First educational offerings completed: the 2001 Crop Modeling workshop, the NeATA conference, and the Spring Break workshops in Farm-Level Mapping.
Research/Education Technologist position filled: Angela Mittan hired.

To do:

Work with NeATA to create an oversight committee.
Visit Oklahoma State University for training in use of the GreenSeeker(tm) sensors.
Add GreenSeeker(tm) sensors to existing Crop Circle sensors for 2002 field trials.

Links to project partners:

Holland Scientific
MapShots
mPower3
Nebraska Agricultural Technologies Association (NeATA)
Nebraska Independent Crop Consultants Association