Clemson researchers develop new technology to make fertigating row crops more appealing

The days of manually calculating numbers on spreadsheets to determine how much liquid fertilizer should be used to fertigate row crops may soon be gone, thanks to a new web-based calculator (app) from Clemson University.

The Clemson Center Pivot Fertigation Calculator is designed to help agricultural producers make more precise fertilizer applications, which will save money and increase crop productivity. This app was developed by Kendall Kirk, a Clemson precision agriculture engineer, with “good advice” from many members of the South Carolina farming community.

“This resource was developed to help producers easily calculate the flow rate of liquid fertilizer and injection pump settings needed to fertigate through a center pivot irrigation system,” Kirk said. “It is designed to make the math a little easier.”

Information required includes fertilizer formulation, pivot size, pivot travel time, fertilizer rate and injection pump manufacturer/model.

Clemson researchers have developed a new app row-crop farmers can use to fertigate crops through a center pivot irrigation system.

After all of the information has been input, the calculator determines liquid fertilizer flow rate required to supply the needed nutrients through a center pivot system, as well as rate per acre of each fertilizer component and recommended injection pump setting. The calculator also creates a fertigation schedule. Results and direct links to the inputs can be sent directly to the producer’s email address.

Ben Fogle, a core technician for the Precision Agriculture program who works with Kirk, said the calculator is convenient in that it can be used anywhere internet is available.

“If a producer is in the field, they can pull out their cell phone and use the fertigation calculation app on their phone,” Fogle said. “This app also can be used on a tablet, on a computer, or anywhere that has internet capabilities. As long as internet is available, this app can be used.”

Convenience is what developers had in mind when they created the calculator.

“We developed this calculator for center pivot fertigation after a grower called and wanted instructions on how to set up his fertigation system,” Kirk said. “We realized a lot calculations are involved when growers fertigate and we could make people’s lives a lot easier if we could give them a system that could calculate some of these things for them.”

Jacob Oswald of Allendale, who graduated from Clemson with a degree in agricultural mechanization and business in 2015, is one of several people who work in South Carolina agriculture who helped develop the calculator. Oswald works with growers across the state to determine how to maximize their yields while still maintaining an efficient economic investment in their farming operations.

“I find this calculator particularly useful because calculating the correct application rate for nutrients injected through irrigation systems can be a difficult process,” Oswald said. “A lot of times, the information required comes from multiple sources, such as the pivot application chart, the specific injection pump manual, as well as nutrient labels.