Precision Farming - Nitrogen Management using Satellite technology
With the cost of fertiliser soaring realising your crop's yield potential by identifying its varying nitrogen requirements is becoming an essential management tool for many cereal growers
With a cost of just £6 per ha with an average yield response of 3-8% the cost benefits speak for themselves.
So why variably apply your nitrogen fertiliser using satellite imagery?
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Unlike tractor mounted sensors remote sensing looks at 100% of your crop where crop canopy variation can be easily identified
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. In cereals there is no yield benefit from achieving an LAI (leaf area index) of higher than 6.0 - 6.5 at maturity
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Crops whose LAI exceed this are at higher risk of disease and lodging.
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If you variably apply your P & K fertiliser there is no capital investment required to utlilise this service
The Process:
Acquire a satellite image of the whole farm and identify the fields/ crops that are to be variably spread with nitrogen fertiliser. LAI (Leaf area index) maps are then created for each field. Taking the growth stage of the crop at the time of the image, the product to be spread and using the HGCA Crop Canopy Guidelines, application maps are then generated for each individual field. The areas of the field that are at the optimum LAI at any given growth stage will receive the planned dose of nitrogen. To change one unit of LAI requires 30 kg of N. Recommendations can be tailored using previous agronomic experience. Safety factors can be built in to prevent excessive N applications in areas of fields that will never perform to their optimum.
Key Benefits:
• No capital investment required to utilise the service
• Satellite imagery looks at 100% of the crop
• Proven method of Nitrogen management
• Suitable
for liquid or granular applications
• Field imagery useful for other agronomy decisions
• Yield driven service with potentially high payback