There is no doubt precision technology can bring in reams of information. It comes in the form of yield data, soil test data, data about varieties, herbicides, planting time and other bits of minutia that paint the larger picture of profitability. But the real payoff comes from what you do with this information.

Ted Sander didn't ease into precision farming. About 4 years ago, he bought a yield monitor and GPS system at the same time. And like other producers who put out money for yield monitors and GPS equipment, information started to roll in. Problem was, he wasn't sure what to do with all the data.

It wasn't so much that Sander didn't have a good idea of what his farm needed. He'd been using a scout service, which had soil tested his farm by soil type, for more than 10 years. It was that between row-crop duties and chores from his hog operation, the time to digest reams of information and make something useful from the results was difficult to find.

David Hughes, manager of MFA's precision program understands. "A challenge each of us using precision technology faces is how best to extract those nuggets that have the greatest potential to provide a return on our producer-owner's investment from the information collected. MFA's Agricultural Systems Information Lab (ASIL) attacks this challenge on two fronts. First, we evaluate soil chemical and plant nutrition factors that may be limiting yield. We then make specific recommendations to correct these field areas as soon as possible. Secondly, we assess variability in crop growth potential caused by factors we cannot control (example, topsoil depth) and refine our recommendations to account for this variability".

Because Sander's crop scout had sampled by soil type, Sander knew there was a great deal of variation within fields. The variation represented both soil fertility and the soil's ability to take additional fertility.

"We already knew that there were tremendous differences from the soil-type soil tests," said Sander. To try to match fertilizer application with the soils that needed it, Sander was applying at different rates in fields. But it was time consuming.

"We'd been doing our own fertilizer application and ended up spreading a lot of small loads," he said. "It came to applying a lot of P and K on frozen ground in the winter because that's the only time we had to do it."

When the Moberly MFA Agri Services began offering precision services, Sander said it was a natural fit. "We'd been collecting yield data since 1998. The problem we saw was that we had the maps but didn't know exactly what to do with them. We're dealing with a lot of technology. There are a lot of places where mistakes can be made that will render the data useless."

"That's why having a partner equipped to handle large amounts of data is critical," said Hughes. "ASIL offers the best of both worlds in the same shop--state-of-the-art geographical information systems technology and sound agronomic backing by our corporate agronomy staff."

When the crew from MFA's Agricultural Systems Information Lab came to take soil samples on Sander's farm, they told him one thing he'd could probably count on was needing ag lime to balance pH.

And that's a good example of how each farm is unique. While many farms have farmed in a way that brings down soil pH, no particular farm is like the other. Sander said his father was an old-school, formula lime applicator.

"He believed in 3 tons of lime every 3 years," said Sander. He pointed out that this was probably coarser lime than is purchased today. He figures the larger bits of it are still dissolving. "We have soils that have been tested three times in 10 years and still test over 7 pH." Of the 300 acres grid tested, only 30 needed lime.

Hughes notes management history as the single-most influential factor in the soil test results he has studied. "It never fails to amaze me how our sampling strategy picks up high soil test areas resulting from past--over 25 years in some cases--animal pasturing or manure applications. Also, it's always fun to see the high pH strips going down the edges of fields next to gravel roads." More times than not the lower soil test areas are not found on the 'poor' ground but where the greatest yields are being harvested. This is a poorly understood concept in the industry. "Precision ag," said Hughes, "is often sold on the ability to reduce inputs in areas that don't need additional nutrients. These areas exist, but most farms also have very productive areas that have been under-fertilized over time. New tools allow us to identify those areas and get more out of them."

Manure's history and future
Obviously, keeping track of a farm's history contributes a cogent story line for the information pulled from intensive soil sampling. In Sander's case, the fields around the family's old dairy operation had been the traditional place to spread manure.

"We knew the nutrients were high there, but that's where we always grew corn for silage, too," said Sander. "So we were using them."

But when Sander's original crop scout sampled those soils, P and K were nearly off the chart.

"I hadn't realized they'd built up that much. Some of those fields, under a corn and soybean rotation, went 6 to 7 years without additional P and K."

Indeed, historic manure application can alter fertility for a long time, especially with build-up nutrients like P and K. Knowing if it has fits into Sander's goal for precision farming.

"Our goal is to come up with something that lets us be as productive or more so than we already are at lower costs," he said. "If we're going to spend the money, let's do it where it will return something."

Jim Steffens, who farms near Lexington, Mo., believes current and future manure application presents a strong case for precision agriculture. In June, he was preparing to pump hog effluent on crop land. Steffens maps where the lagoon is pumped for reference in fertility recommendations. But he said that these maps and information about date, time and other environmental conditions may be more important in the future when EPA will likely mandate them.

Ditto from Sander, who, like Steffens, uses a traveling irrigation gun to apply effluent to crop land.

"I've got a suspicion that when the EPA announces new regulations this fall, the ability to track where you've put [effluent] and how much and when will be important. It might get to the point that you can only pump [effluent] onto fields if you keep that information," said Sander.

Grain tracking
Steffens rents land from several landlords. He says bringing rented ground into a precision program presents challenges. Some landlords will share in the expense because it provides records on their soil's fertility and the amendments made to it. Others decline. But one thing Steffens has found useful about his yield monitor and field maps is that he can keep close track of how much grain comes from each farm.

Steffens and Sander figure precision will pay its way. But managing an ever-increasing flow of data will continue to be a challenge.

Putting precision in hand