GPS Nutrient Grid Mapping provides double benefit for growers

Date:09-16-2024

Growers using Agrovista’s standard GPS grid- or zone-mapping service to tailor nutrient availability to crop need are reminded that they can claim a £27/ha annual payment under the SFI PRF1 (variable rate application of nutrients) option.

Taking a minimum of 16 cores of soil per grid/zone and analysing the combined sample for P, K, Mg and pH enables Agrovista’s Precision Services team to produce variable-rate fertiliser and lime application files. In most cases this creates a saving on fertiliser but now also attracts the SFI payment mentioned above.

″With the service costing around £22/ha and lasting for four years, a profit of over £80/ha can be seen from the SFI payment alone. That is in addition to any potential fertiliser savings and improvements on yield through correct targeting of nutrients and addressing pH issues,″ says Richard Dulake, Agrovista’s east region precision specialist.

GPS pH-only mapping

Correct soil pH should always be the first port of call when it comes to addressing soil nutrition. An overly high or low pH reading can drastically affect the availability of important nutrients within the soil solution. Checking pH levels using a greater resolution (per hectare mapping) enables levels to be corrected levels to an optimum, avoiding the wasteful treatment of areas of the field that are already at target pH as often occurs with blanket-rate applications.

To make the most of the fertiliser being applied, pH MUST be a priority. Maintaining the correct pH throughout the whole rotation is essential for good soil functionality and farm profitability.

VR Nitrogen

Using remote-sensing technology and the real-time imagery it generates, applying nitrogen at different rates on a variable field can create greater yields through a more even crop.

Pushing the poor performing areas of a field using variable-rate technology can generate a 3-5% increase in yield on arable crops.

VR Seed

Using productivity maps we can create VR seed prescriptions based on more than just the soil type scanning maps of old.

Stacking NDVI biomass data, soil brightness imagery and elevation data from multiple years can provide us with good reasons to increase and decrease seed rates in some areas, highlighting areas within fields that consistently perform differently that could benefit from an altered seed rate strategy.

Agrovista provides both VR Nitrogen and Seed within one package lasting for one season. Each new season takes into account the last year’s worth of imagery to produce the most up-to-date productivity maps.