Regional Crop Management Proj
GREG ROTH
Penn State Agronomy
Associate Professor
In 1998, we began to par-
I ticipate in a regional crop
management project that is
i designed to address some
common concerns we have in
the mid-Atlantic region
regarding crop production.
A key emphasis is to find
ways we can use technologies
to increase yields on the
drought-prone soils of our
region.
In the next few issues of
Corn Talk, we’ll discuss some
of the projects that are under
way in Maryland, Virginia,
North Carolina, and here in
Pennsylvania. The project is
being coordinated by the
Foundation for Agronomic
Research with industry sup
port from a number of region
al ag suppliers.
During the summer we
were able to visit some of the
research sites our colleagues
had established in Virginia
FARMERS ft 1 CHOICE m COMBINES
Sutwlr* GRUMELLI’S FARM B . EQUIPMENT, INC.
EQUIPMENT, INC. SERVICE INC. Waynesboro, Pa.
Elizabethtown, Pa. Quarry vide, PA 717-762-3193
717-367-8867 717-786-7318
1-800-564-2511
and North Carolina. In
Virginia the main study site
is located on Camden Farms,
‘near Port Royal, Va. There
our project director, Dr. Mark
Alley, and his research team
are evaluating various no-till
com wheat soybean rotations
using precision ag technolo
gies on the variable soil in
the area.
The fields at this study site
are large, flat, and seem uni
form, but the soils actually
vary from sandy loams,
which are fairly productive to
loamy sands which are quite
droughty. The aim of the pro
ject is to determine of field
mapping and variable rate
applications can improve
crop productivity on these
soils.
One activity they reported
on this summer was a project
where they have begun to
evaluate the effectiveness of
various soil sampling strate
gies: a 2.5-acre grid, a 1-acre
grid, a whole field composite,
Ik ‘
and composting by soil series.
They compared these results
to those obtained with a very
intensive sampling system on
a 60 x 100-foot grid. Then
they compared the results of
phosphorous and potassium
fertilizer recommendations
from each method by calcu
lating the how far off off the
fertilizer recommendations
wf uld be in each of the small
S’ ids for the various soil sam
pling systems.
Results varied by fields
and are apparently influ
enced by the source of the
nutrient variability. In one
fairly uniform field, the aver
age miss for Potassium with
the normal composite method
was only nine pounds/acre
and composting by soil type
reduced it to four pounds per
acre. Using 2.5- and 1.0-acre
grids resulted in average
misses of 6 and 5 pounds per
acre, respectively. In another
field compositing the whole
field resulted in an average
Corn Talk, Lancaster Farming, Saturday, October 10, 1998—P<
ect Under Way
©©in mm m
miss of 23 pounds per acre in
the recommendations com
pared to 17 where composited
over soils. Going to the 2.5-
and 1.0-acre grids reduced on
this field reduced the average
miss to 13 and 11 pounds per
acre, respectively.
These results suggest the
need for “smart sampling” as
some researchers have advo
cated, where the sampling
system for precision ag pur
poses is dependent on the
characteristics of the individ
ual field. We will probably do
our best if we let the field
conditions and nutrient lev
els dictate our sampling sys
tem.
w- ml
ZIMMERMAN’S
FARM SERVICE, Inc.
1/2 Mile West off Rt. SOI
On School Rd.,
Bethel, Pa.
717-933-4114
This research pro
only one of many invo
the overall study. In
issues of Corn Talk, I’l
vide updates of othei
jects, including those
way in Pennsylvania.
Ll'r*
oe*t*v'.a
CJ. WONSIDLER
BROS.
Quakertown, Pa.
215-536-7523
New Tripoli, Pa.
610-767-7611
if*