British trial shows precision farming can pay

Most fields have poorer-yielding areas. It could be an area of heavier soil where germination rates are lower or perhaps a slug or blackgrass hotspot.

Whatever the reason, by treating the field as a whole with a flat-rate input, farmers are never going to get the most from these underperforming areas.

So by varying inputs across a field, such as raising seed rates in areas with poorer germination, farmers can raise yields. However, there is a perception that precision farming does not pay or that farmers need very variable soils within a field to see any benefit.

Split-field trial

To find out if this is the case, Hutchinsons Crop Production Specialists established a split-field trial across 3 farms last season comparing the Omnia precision farming approach with normal farm practice in winter wheat.

It revealed that precision farming does pay, with an average yield increase across all three sites of 0.6t/ha.

The extra yield equates to £99/ha ($ 126/ha) based on a wheat price of £165/t ($ 210/t), which Nick Strelczuk, precision technology specialist at Hutchinsons, believes is a good return for the £5/ha ($ 6,35) annual cost of using Omnia.

Also read: Hutchinsons Omnia Connect app

This subscription enables farmers to generate input application plans using different layers of information, including crop biomass data – from drones, machine-mounted sensor and satellite – maps showing differing slug and blackgrass pressure.

Little soil variation

Of particular interest is that a yield increase was also seen in a field with little soil variation at Grove Farm, near Borne, Lincolnshire. The trial field of Zyatt wheat consists mainly of marine clay. Half of the field was managed using Omnia precision farming and the other half followed standard farm practice. Total seed and nutrient inputs were kept the same to allow a direct comparison between the two halves of the field, explains Mr Strelczuk.

Some fields may have up to 7 layers, but for this one 3 was ideal

Variable seed rate map

The starting point was to generate a variable seed rate map. For this field it was based on 3 layers – soil texture, seed-bed conditions and blackgrass pressure. “Some fields may have up to 7 layers, but for this one 3 was ideal,” says Mr Strelczuk.

Seed-beds were scored by visual assessment (excellent, good or poor) and recorded in the field using a tablet with the Omnia mapping tool. The same had been done for blackgrass pressure. For blackgrass, upping seed rates helps to increase crop competition and for areas where germination may be lower – for example, heavier soils and poorer seed-beds – upping seed rates will help even up crops.

Drilling maps

Once the layers have been imported, farmers simply enter their target plant population, drilling date and the program will generate the drilling maps, he says. For this field, which the farmer deemed to be even, seed rates varied considerably between 189kg/ha and 228kg/ha.

“It just takes a small difference in the inputs [soil type, seed-bed quality] to have a bigger effect on outputs like seed rates,” explains Mr Strelczuk.

Fertiliser plan

Then in spring, crop biomass was mapped using satellite and the data was used to generate a fertiliser plan. The total nitrogen applied was the same for both halves of the field. The only difference was that the last split varied across the precision farming area.

Yield results show the half managed using the farm’s standard practice yielded 9.98t/ha, while the precision farmed area delivered an extra 0.47t/ha. Crucially, this resulted in the cost of producing 1t of wheat falling by £9/t at Grove Farm.

Spring cropping on a further 20 farms

Buoyed by the statistically significant yield benefit of 0.6t/ha with a precision approach, the company is expanding the trial this season. Mr Strelczuk says winter wheat has already been drilled across 10 farms and they are planning to look at spring cropping on a further 20 farms.