The age old practice of just putting seed in the ground is long past. Today’s science allows for treating each area of the field differently. From the soil’s texture, its ability to hold water, composition, and many other factors, we can begin to get an idea of how well it will grow our desired crop. By testing the soil’s health we can amend it based on its unique position in the field. With GPS we can apply variable rate fertilizer based recommendations for the soil and take into account how much of a particular nutrient a certain crop will remove in a given year. And then we plant. Our planting also takes into consideration the soil’s health and ability to grow and we can vary our seed population in the field also based on GPS. How amazing! But it doesn’t end there, we also do in season soil and foliar analysis to determine the crop’s health. As fall approaches, it’s time to get out the combine and head to the field. Our combine and operator makes sure that minimal grain is lost during the harvest process and the combine computer documents moisture, bushels per acre, in addition to many other things. Through this process we accumulate LOTS of data. Today’s computer software allows us to analyze the data to make intelligent decisions going forward. Don’t worry, we don’t let the computers make all the decisions. Successful farming is still based on good decisions!
