Crop input costs are continually rising, but PrecisionAg.com reports that precision farming technology is helping keep overall costs at bay. A recent article suggests farmers are receiving substantial paybacks for investing in precision agriculture technology.
“Research shows that growers are gaining back their investment in precision ag technology faster than we thought – often in just one to three years,” says K. Elliott Nowels, director of the PrecisionAg Institute. “And they are saving from $15 to $39 per acre by using inputs more efficiently with precision ag tools, depending on crop and region of the country.”
Add in the stewardship element of precision agriculture – using inputs when and where they are needed — and it’s a very compelling case for adoption. “There’s never been a better time to adopt this technology,” says Nowels.
Additional results indicate the following:
• Eighty-five percent (85%) of corn growers, 88 percent of cotton growers and 100 percent of soybean growers indicated their operation has been more profitable using precision ag technology.
• The average input savings per acre for these precision ag users (inputs including seed, fertilizer, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides and time/labor) $19 per acre for corn, $18.50/A. for beans and up to $39/A. for cotton.
• Fertilizer cost-savings led the way, coming in at $4 to $13 per acre depending on crop.
• The top benefits growers listed from their use of precision ag technology were 1.) the ability to apply chemicals and fertilizer where needed, 2.) greater profitability due to lower input costs, and 3.) identification of poor producing areas of their fields.
PrecisionAg.com reports that the data from this research was gathered from in-depth written responses and telephone follow-up interviews with corn, soybean and cotton growers.
About half of the nation’s cotton growers are practicing precision agriculture. PrecisionAg.com reports that the use of precision technology among cotton growers grew from just 18 percent in 2001 to 48 percent in 2005.
There are a number of reasons for this increase. First, changes in farming practices requires more precision and repeatability, such as the use of subsurface irrigation and strip-till. Guidance products with high levels of accuracy such as real-time kinematic (RTK) with sub-inch repeatability provide the accuracy needed for repeat passes over the same guidance line. Second, rising input costs encourage the use of products that reduce overlap. AutoTrac (automatic steering) reduces pass-to-pass overlap which on average reduces input cost by 5-10%, and GS2 Rate Controller and Swath Control (automatic boom section control capability) products reduce inputs applied to previously covered acres. On average this is an additional 3% reduction in seed and pesticide costs. Third, the growers are looking for increased efficiency of products applied based on site-specific information. Variable rate applications are being utilized to vary seeding, defoliant, growth regulator, and fertilizer rates.
The report also suggests that a growing shortage of labor has influenced growers to look to precision as an alternate means of improving productivity with less man power. PrecisonAg.com says growers are most interested in John Deere’s ITEC Pro - or Intelligent Total Equipment Control.
At last week’s Beltwide Cotton Conferences I got to interview Patrick Sikora, John Deere Ag Management Solutions Group, about the new technology available for cotton growers. He works in their new development area.
Patrick says that cotton growers have been some of the earliest adopters of precision farming technology but that there may be some not familiar with products like Harvest Doc Cotton.
With the Harvest Doc Cotton system, cotton producers will be able to document and map their cotton yields with the GreenStar™ system and their John Deere 9986 and 9996 cotton pickers. The Harvest Doc Cotton system enables producers to generate detailed cotton yield maps to help them make better and more informed management decisions.
Patrick suggests that growers make sure they visit StellarSupport.com for all the information they need.
John Deere is on display in Nashville, TN at the Beltwide Cotton Conferences. We know that the company has a new 7760 Self Propelled Cotton Picker out which was announced at last fall’s product launch. So to learn more about it and how it fits into a precision management plan, I spoke with Jamie Flood, Product Marketing Manager, just as the trade show was kicking off.
He says that the equipment is meant to simplify a producer’s operation and that he’s heard very positive and good interest from growers who are looking at it. From a precision standpoint he says that the base unit comes Harvest Doc ready. Flood says that cotton producers have been some of the earliest adopters of precision technology.
You can listen to my interview with Jamie Flood here: Jamie Flood Interview (3 min mp3)
You can also watch the interview if you’d like as well:
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Crop input costs are continually rising, but PrecisionAg.com reports that precision farming technology is helping keep overall costs at bay. A recent article suggests farmers are receiving substantial paybacks for investing in precision agriculture technology.
At last week’s Beltwide Cotton Conferences I got to interview Patrick Sikora, 