1. Precision Organics
Opportunities for improved efficiency and
effectiveness of field operations
Joel Gruver
WIU- Agriculture
j-gruver@wiu.edu
(309) 298 1215
15. Whatever skill level you bring to the table
can be augmented by GPS guidance technology
16. Farmers like Mike Findlay are
using RTK guidance on both
their planter and cultivating
tractors but planting with
guidance makes cultivating
without guidance much
easier
20. Most of the power required for tillage isAgriCanada
associated with undoing wheel traffic
Without restricted
traffic, most field
surfaces receive
traffic each year
22. Jacob Bolson and Roger Knutson
Strip intercropping: 2010: 230 bu/ac
http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/precision-ag/farming-edge-strip-intercropping-
edges-capture-more-light-reward-higher-yields
23. More light = More yield
www.cedarvalleyinnovation.com
24.
25. 8 ways that your equipment may get smarter
1. Enhanced guidance and connectivity,
implements guiding tractors
and not the other way around
2. Autonomous machines? Eventually
3. Smarter telemetrics
4. Better sensors
5. Improve diesel fuel economy
6. Emission regs drive change
7. Small is big
8. Going electric
30. The Tillet Weeder uses computer technology and a spinning blade to remove
weeds. Note the disc-shaped cultivation blade with a notched cut-out to
allow the blade to spin around transplanted cabbage.
31. Garford dealer – Canadian company that sells into the Upper Midwest
32. start up company – no commercial products yet
http://bluerivert.com/
34. The founding team is two brothers, one a
large-scale dairyman from NY State and the
other an engineer and environmental scientist
based in Minnesota. We are working closely
with a robotics team that has deep experience
engineering high-quality products for
start up company agriculture and other markets.
no commercial products yet
Robotic weeding 1 row at a time?????
42. What is PRECISION COVER CROPPING???
1) Planting of cover crops with a precision planter
2) strategic placement of cover crop rows in relation
to other cover cover rows and/or the following cash
crop rows (often using GPS guidance)
3) Strategic placement of cover crops in specific
fields or parts of fields
4) Selection and management of cover crops to
achieve specific objectives
67. Planted with a drill in late September 2012
Precision planting may allow you
to plant your cover crops later
Radish Radish Radish
Cereal Cereal
Rye Rye
72. Last fall we set up a 6 row bar
with Yetter Mavericks
We plan to freshen rows before planting as needed
73. Why is there rapeseed on the edge of this bean field?
We ran rapeseed (2 lbs/a)
through insecticide boxes
while planting these soybeans
74. 40 lbs of cereal rye planted directly over
soybean rows in 2011
The cereal rye and rapeseed both died
when the crop canopied. No significant
effect on yield, some in-row weed
suppression in 2011
95. NT bean yields ranged from ~ 30 to ~ 60 bu/a
60 b/a in wet hole
30-40 b/a in
well drained areas
96. Our cleanest and best yielding beans
in 2012 were conventional-till but
we have not been able to achieve
this level of weed control every year.
97. Where are the soybeans??
Traditional organic weed management often
comes up short during wet years
A strong stand of cereal rye was incorporated ~ 2
weeks before these soybeans were planted
98. CCs affect many agronomic factors
simultaneously
Control
erosion
Feed
livestock
Cover
Crops
Adapted from Magdoff and Weil (2004)
99. Not all effects are positive
Host
pests
Tie up N
? ?
Become a
weed
Interfere w/
equipment
performance
Suppress crop
growth
Cover
Crops Dry out soil
Prevent excessively
soil drying
Add cost
Increase
management
Adapted from Magdoff and Weil (2004)
100. Greater precision in farming practices
increases the likelihood of
intended outcomes
More positive and fewer negative effects
101. This is what we were hoping for
in the field where we ended up planting our
precision radish experiment in fall 2012!
