Hagie Rig With Greenseeker Optical Sensor Technology Could Help Rescue Midwest Flood-Soaked Corn Crops
Des Moines, IA (June 15, 2004) - As farmers scramble to save
corn crops from the recent drenching rain, promising technology is available to
help.
"Nitrogen applied during preplant has been flushed out by the
rain and
farmers are looking for ways to replenish soil nutrients," says Shane
Williams, sales and service manager for Hagie Manufacturing in Clarion,
Iowa. "We are getting calls from all over the Midwest because the equipment
farmers normally use for applying nitrogen does not work well with growing corn
without causing plant damage." The Hagie rig can side dress corn up to seven
feet tall without causing damage. Demand is far outstripping available
equipment, according to Williams.
Hagie and NTech Industries, which makes GreenSeeker optical
sensors for determining and applying the optimal rate of nitrogen, have combined
technologies to test the effectiveness of applying nitrogen after emergence, up
to the V10 growth stage (7-feet tall).
During the next two weeks‹weather permitting--the
Hagie-GreenSeeker
technology teams will apply nitrogen in more than 1,200 acres of Illinois
and Iowa cornfields to gauge the effectiveness of using remote sensing
technology to increase nitrogen use efficiency (NUE) and cut nitrate levels
in ground water. Helena Chemical, part of a national custom application
business with 200 locations, is assisting. "We see this as an opportunity to
help our growers utilize this new technology in order to increase yields and
reduce per unit costs of production, creating a more efficient and
environmentally friendly use of nitrogen inputs," said Mike Fossum, Branch
Manager, Helena Chemical in Marshall, Minnesota. The Marshall Branch conducts
over 480 comparisons in their Field of Knowledge test plots each year and has
been working with Marshall area growers to set up field trials of the new
technology.
How It Works
Using a Hagie high clearance applicator with nitrogen toolbar, and the
GreenSeeker RT200 system's sensors mounted to "see" the rows, an on-the-go
variable rate amount of fertilizer is delivered to maximize NUE. The sensors use
infrared and near infrared reflective light to gauge the corn plant's size and
color as a measure of health and yield potential. A 30-foot row of non
nitrogen-limited corn is used as reference strip to calibrate
GreenSeeker to achieve maximum nitrogen use efficiency.
Managing the effort is USDA Plant Physiologist Jerry Hatfield,
Ph.D.,
director of the National Soil Tilth Laboratory in Ames, Iowa. Hatfield will
work closely in the field trials with Jason Lawless, agronomist for NTech
Industries, the firm that manufactures GreenSeeker, a variable rate control
system with a computerized optical sensor.
"I've worked in the remote sensing area for 25 years using a
number of tools to measure nitrogen status in plants and improve NUE in corn
fields, "explained Dr. Hatfield. "But GreenSeeker brings together sensing and
controls into one technology that could open a dramatic window of
opportunity for side dressing corn plants up to seven feet tall."
In one field trial, the Hagie-GreenSeeker system will be used
following the application of manure to even out the levels of nitrogen in the
soil and
boost crop growth.
Since GreenSeeker is guided by algorithms looking for certain
colors of
light in making the application decision, Hatfield says tests on hybrid corn
with various colors will be checked to see whether the differences in color
seen by the human eye might throw off the electronic eye, or if the light
wave band really isnąt all that different despite the visual color
difference.
Another positive outcome from applying nitrogen more efficiently
is the potential reduction in nitrates in subsurface ground water and streams.
"For cities like Des Moines that uses ground water, considerable resources are
required to reduce nitrate levels from 20 ppm to 10 ppm, so the water if safe
for human consumption," said Hatfield. "In wheat applications, GreenSeeker
reduced nitrogen application up to 90 per cent. The cost implications of
improved nitrogen management are significant."
GreenSeeker, hailed by the USDA in 2002 as the best new
technology in a century for fertilizing crops, has been used widely in wheat.
The first
trials in corn were started more than two years ago, resulting in the latest
generation of GreenSeeker technology.
Contact:
Jerry Hatfield, Ph.D.
USDA
515-294-5723 office
515-231-7355 - Mobile
Ted Mayfield
NTech Industries
707-467-3747 Ex. 111
707-272-3173 - Mobile
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