Research Accomplishment Reports 2007

Precision Agriculture: Precision Resource Management

S. A.Shearer, T.G. Mueller, C. R. Dillon
Department of Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

 

Project Description

Economic and environmental pressures are causing the agricultural production sector to seek more competitive ways of producing food and fiber products while minimizing the impact on the environment.

The objectives of this project focused on the development and advancement of geospatial technologies in support of sustainable agriculture and natural resource management and land-use planning and decision making in Kentucky. This project resulted in the development of management approaches using GIS, GPS and VRT in combination to improve agricultural productivity and profitability while conserving and protecting the natural resource base. The outputs are reported and align with seven subcomponents that included:

1) field investigation of GPS and GIS tracking and evaluation of timber harvest, skidding, and hauling operations in steep terrain forests to develop methods that reduce deleterious impacts on water quality;

2) field evaluation of automated guidance for the precise placement of banded fertilizers and seed into strip-tilled areas with the objective of improving seed emergence while minimizing soil erosion;

3) laboratory development and field testing of Controller Area Network (CAN) systems for varying seeding on individual row units to preventing over and under seeding;

4) laboratory investigations to assess the applicability of GIS for planning expansion of animal feeding operations (AFOs) to minimize the impact on nutrient buildup, air pollution, and other deleterious results;

5) field investigations to evaluate sensing methods for the need-specific application of nutrients for common grain crops;

6) development of field measurement and management techniques for carbon sequestration in agricultural fields; and

7) development of GIS-based training aids which can be used to educate farmers, agribusiness professionals, government officials, and extension agents.

Impact

Significant impacts of work conducted to date are enumerated in accordance with the sub-project areas above.

1) Results from a replicated study of controlled skidding across headwater streams using four different crossing technologies (fords, portable panel bridges, metal corrugated culverts, and PVC pipe bundles) provided data for a cost benefit analysis of crossing types. This data will be made available to the logging industry in Kentucky.

2) Strip tillage was shown to be a viable alternative to conventional broad acre tillage by reducing fuel usage and decreasing erosion potential. Added benefits include the ability to precisely deep band fertilizer to improved use efficiency and reduce offsite movement. If adopted, it is estimated that CAN-based control technology will reduce seed costs by up to 15% in Kentucky without sacrificing grain yield through the elimination of skipped and double planted regions within a field and the maintenance of constant plant populations when planting in turns.

3) A CAN-based distributed control system for use on seeding equipment was developed utilizing dedicated microcontrollers for single seed metering units, with expandability to 36-row equipment. Tests of the completed system were conducted in a laboratory setting with average seed drop generally within 5% of the target value and may reduce seed costs by up to 15% without sacrificing grain yield.

4) A tool has been developed to promote economic development by facilitating the ecologically sound expansion of the poultry industry through the use of GIS and spatial databases for managing industry growth and the associated animal nutrient products. Future benefits may include utilizing the same tool for implementing technically-sound measures for agro-security, disease management, and regulatory efforts.

5) Visible and NIR reflectance-based sensing techniques were developed to identify water and nutrient stresses for alfalfa production in central Kentucky.

6) Kentucky's land owner/managers can reduce risk and improve overall productivity by delineating fields, or portions of fields, where soils exhibit greater potential for C sequestration in response to changes in management; which may serve as a basis for defining Kentucky's participation in future carbon credit trading schemes.

7) Spatial datasets and training exercises were developed for seven counties in Kentucky. This information has been used in training sessions for extension agents and local government officials and integrated into joint research endeavors at their respective locations.

Publications

Alvarado, S., J.H. Grove and H.D. Rowe. 2007. Natural 13C abundance in no-till soils: An indicator of management effect on soil carbon stabilization. New Orleans, LA. Agron. Abstr. 99:CDROM P35505.

Hancock, D.M. and C.E. Dougherty. 2007. Relationships between blue- and red-based vegetation indices and leaf area and yield of alfalfa. Crop Science, 47(6):2547-2556.

Hancock, D.W. and M. Collins. 2006. Forage preservation method influences alfalfa nutritive value and feeding characteristics. Crop Science 46(2):688-694.

Pena-Yewtukhiw, E.M., J.A. Thompson and J.H. Grove. The scale dependency of terrain attributes impacts their relationship to corn grain yield in rolling landscapes. p.117-123. In J.V. Stafford (ed.) Proceedings of the 6th European Conference on Precision Agriculture. Skiathos, Greece. 3-6 June 2007. Wageningen Academic Publishers, Wageningen, Netherlands.

Pena-Yewtukhiw, E.M., J.H. Grove and J. Thompson. 2007. Scale optimization of the relationships between primary terrain attributes and corn grain yield in rolling landscapes. New Orleans, LA. Agron. Abstr. 99:CDROM P34143.