How Tech Helped Focus Inputs for One Cooperative

In the market we’re facing today, every decision we make counts. Especially when it comes to inputs. As you plan strategies for next year, consider how technology can help you place inputs effectively while maintaining profitability.
 
A cooperative I work with uses tech tools to focus inputs, specifically helping cotton farmers combat root rot. This fungal disease can destroy plants, choke up machines at harvest and eat away profits. Here’s an overview of the team’s approach.

• The cooperative uses satellite imagery from the R7^® Tool to help identify specific parts of fields that have a history of root rot. From there, historical crop biomass images can be pulled for any field.
• With these images, invaluable data is gathered to help identify where root rot has been located in previous crop years. The cooperative uses this information and field history to create disease management zones.
• From there, the cooperative helps farmers set different rates of applications within the zones, allowing them to concentrate higher rates in parts of the field more prone to disease. This doesn’t necessarily mean costs decrease, but farmers can concentrate inputs in known areas of disease to promote higher yield.

 
Example from the field
In the images below, the weaker biomass represented by the red, yellow and green colors correlate with areas of disease in the field. With this information, you can convert the yield potential map into management zones. Within the zones, you can customize treatment for each area.
 
In this example, there are three different prescriptions that each have different field averages of product. Even though some areas are receiving concentrated amounts of 8 ounces per acre, you can still maintain a lower field average as you decrease rates in zones less prone to disease.

For more information about implementing this technology on your farm, contact your WinField^® United retailer.