See how farmers employee technology to precisely apply the nutrients crops need reducing costs and increasing yields. Gypsum reduces soil erosion and sediment runoff keeping nutrients where farmers need them. In the field for crops to utilize.

1. Precision Ag & Gypsum
Experience

2. Gypsum: What’s Old is New Again?
 Gypsum mortar on the
Pyramids
 Over 200 years ago Ben
Franklin used gypsum “land
plaster”
 Expensive to mine and
transport so the practice was
abandoned
 Reclaiming drywall gypsum
headed for landfills provides
a source
$100 Bill

3. U.S Policy Impact
 Clean Air Act Requires SO2
Reductions
 Coal power plants inject lime to
Scrub sulfur dioxide
 Uses lots of lime & produces gypsum
 Cheap natural gas reduces coal use
 More Air Regulations
 Less coal burned = less gypsum
 Clean air = farmers purchase sulfur
Gypsum Transport

4. Policy and Sulfur – Unintended Consequences
Sulfur is an essential ingredient for creating proteins, so
high-protein crops (alfalfa, soybean, corn silage) require
more sulfur than low-protein producing crops.

5. Drywall Gypsum – Faster Acting
 Gypsum is 2 molecules of
crystalline (dry) water & 1 of
calcium sulfate
 Converted to plaster of paris by
grinding and heating to remove
75% of its water
 Plaster is rehydrated to slurry
 Air entrained - 50% air
 Corn starch “glue” to paper

6. Heavy Metals? 17 Years of History
Exceeds Clean Fill Requirements

7. Damp Ag Gypsum
19% Calcium
14% Sulfate
0.4% Mag
0.01% Boron
15-19% Moisture
Particle size 5/8”
minus

8. Gypsum Application Challenges
 Sticky or Dusty
 Flowability
 Transportation
 Stockpiling
 Equipment

9. Gypsum Spreading
 Pull Type Lime and
Litter Spreader
 Pequea SP 550
Load Cells
Large Working Width
Floatation Tires Less
Compaction
Custom Spreading

10. GPS Field Application
Mapping
 Precise Mapping For
Even Spread
 Automatic Shut Off for
a Preset Percentage of
Overlap
 Record Boundary For
Prescription
 Speed and Working
Time

11. Variable Rate Control
 Test plot with different
rates
 Load cells allow controller
to adjust web flow for
speed variations
 Pre-start function allows
web to feed material to
spinners until speed
obtained
 Great record for Harvest
information

12. Layered Data
 Test plot with
variable gypsum
rate and harvest
data on top

13. Harvest Mapping
 The most important
information is your
harvest data. It will show
how your crop performed.
Allowing you to
concentrate on problem
areas and justify your
investments.
 Field Harvest Data with
two similar field
elevations and soil
variables.

14. 16 Bushel Difference?
Why?
Highest yielding green areas –
38 Bushels per Acre Difference.

15. Soil Sampling Grids
Each grid is a separately bagged and tested

16. Calcium lbs. Per Acre – Optimum 2,000 to 5,000
Soil Tests taken on
Nov. 21, 2015
Fields 12-13 No Gypsum
Average – 4,581
Lowest – 4,255
Highest – 5,302
Fields 17-18D
Average – 2,365
Lowest – 1,781
Highest – 2,604
Soil Tests taken on
Jan. 4, 2017
Fields 12-13 No Gypsum
Average – 6,290
Lowest – 5,118
Highest – 7,727
Fields 17-18D
Average – 3,284
Lowest – 2,759
Highest – 3,666

17. Sulfur Parts per Million – Optimum 15 to 25
Soil Tests taken on
Nov. 21, 2015
Fields 12-13 No Gypsum
Average – 14.42
Lowest – 10.70
Highest – 16.82
Fields 17-18D
Average – 10.44
Lowest – 8.94
Highest – 11.84
Soil Tests taken on
Jan. 4, 2017
Fields 12-13 No Gypsum
Average – 11.44
Lowest – 6.84
Highest – 12.88
Fields 17-18D
Average – 20.99
Lowest – 12.73
Highest – 34.2

18. Yield Results 2016 Corn Harvest
Fields 12-13 No Gypsum
Average – 137
Lowest – 56
Highest – 217
$603 Revenue per acre
at $4.40 per bushel
Fields 17-18D
Average – 153
Lowest – 71
Highest – 255
$673 Revenue per acre
at $4.40 per bushel
It does not take much to pull
your Yield Average down!

19. When all Nutrients are at
Optimum Levels…
 Crops Yield More
 Crops Handle
Growing Season
Stress Better

20. Test for Micronutrients
Only test for those you will manage.
For Corn-
Sulfur
Zinc
Boron
For Soybeans-
• Sulfur
• Zinc
• Boron
• Manganese

21. Grid Soil
Sampling
and
Zone Soil
Sampling
WHY?
A whole field soil sample only gives you
a general idea about that field

22. With Grid and Zone Sampling
More Samples = More Indicators
Discover Hidden Areas in the Field
Low Soil pH
High Phosphorus
Low Potassium

23. Grid Soil Sampling Map

24. New Technology!
Arriving to the area
this year

25. Aerial Imagery from an Airplane
 1 photo covers 1 sq. mile
 3 images acquired
 Advanced Digital Vegetation
Index
 Visual Image – 12 inch
resolution
 Thermal Image – detects
temperature variations to
3/100th of a degree Celsius

26. Advanced Vegetation
Index
 Uses Full Spectrum
Color from near
Infrared band through
Ultraviolet band
 12 inch Resolution

27.  Thermal Imagery
reads relative plant
temperature
 Plants under stress
appear as warmer,
like having a “fever”

28. This Technology Will Detect Developing Crop
Problems Several Weeks in Advance
 Insects
 Disease
 Weed
Pressure

29. What This Technology Delivers to You…
 Early Crop
Stress Warning
 Plant Growth
and Health
Indications
 More Time for
Action
 The Ability for
Prescription
Spraying

30. Thermal Visual ADVI
Image acquired on 6-13-2016 at 9:36 AM

31. Thermal Visual ADVI
Image acquired on 6-27-2016 at 8:57 AM

32. Thermal Visual ADVI
Image acquired on 7-15-2016 at 10:03 AM

33.  Aerial Images acquired every 2 weeks
during the growing season
 Images delivered within 24 hours
after acquisition
 10 flights or 5 flights throughout
the growing season
Cost per Acre – Less than a Custom
Applied Fungicide Application

34. Attention to Detail
Shows in the Yield!
Thank You!