Even Farmers Make Use Of Weather Satellite TechnologyThe heavens hold the key for farmers wanting to learn more about the soil beneath their crops. Space-age satellite technology offers farm management the ability to zero in from a paddock-to-paddock to a metre-by-metre basis as precise positions are established using in-range weather satellite images. Farmers can now map their farms to within the accuracy of half a metre. That satellite maps real time, combined with new technology mounted inside a combine harvester or a fertilizer or chemicals spreader, means a precise picture of yield variation can be built up over a paddock. Cropping farmers and horticulturalists can then vary fertilizer and other crop inputs within small areas to make the most of production, rather than applying blanket coverage over a paddock. Only about five farmers in New Zealand are using the Differential Global Position System (DGPS) for yield-mapping, but use of the technology is expected to snowball within a few years. Called precision farming, and regarded as the next wave in the farm-technology revolution, it is already gaining common usage in the United States and Britain. In Canterbury, cropping farmers are getting their first taste of precision farming in a research project using yield-mapping on three properties. David Howey at Temuka, brothers Roger and David West at Wakanui near Ashburton, and the Ravensdown farm at Seadown near Timaru are each closely monitoring a paddock as part of the Agmardt-Foundation for Arable Research project. The three-year project is in its first year. Two grass seed crops and a wheat crop will be harvested this summer on the properties using combine harvesters fitted with DGPS equipment. The navigation system means the position of harvesters can be fixed so accurately that yield readings may be obtained virtually continuously. This allows a yield map of the paddock to be built up as grain comes into the header. Precision farming is considered too expensive for most farmers at present, costing about $ 15,000 to $ 20,000 for a yield and moisture meter, computer software, and about $ 1000 for an annual DGPS signal license fee. But prices are expected to fall as usage widens. David Howey said he was introduced to the potential of precision farming after buying a combine harvester in 2006 fitted with yield-mapping gear which its maker, Class, was keen to test. With harvesting under way, he quickly realized the computer readout showed some big variations in crop yields in what appeared to be relatively even paddocks. The yield maps it produced showed variations in the 2004-05 season (a good year) of from 4 to 13 tonne a hectare and in 2005-06 (a very poor year) of three to nine tonne/ha. These variations were not obvious from simply looking at the crop as it entered the combine. Extremes tended to be over small areas and were explained by headland compaction, bird damage, and wet holes. Less easy to explain were variations of 3-5t/ha over the remaining consistent (but poor) Waitohi and Timaru silt loams. "I can't help thinking that if some parts of the farm can produce up to 13t/ha, there has to be some scope, with help from precision farming, of improving our over-all average," said Mr Howey. However, he was keeping an open mind. "The project may well prove that we can produce maps, but cannot influence them." Ian Yule, of Massey University's Institute of Technology and Engineering, expected the technology would be mainly used by larger producers or contractors. Potato and vegetable producers possibly had the most to gain from precision farming because of high levels of crop inputs such as fertilizer. Precision farming could be used to enhance crop quality, to achieve top grades and prices, as well as bringing savings in input costs.
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