PRO Co-op Precision Farming
Questions? Contact:
Bailey Christoffersen Agronomist, Precision Farming Specialist
406-286-5263
Farm the zone, not the field
There will probably come a day when “precision farming” will simply be called farming. Focusing your efforts on production zones within your fields helps minimize input costs in lower-producing zones, while maximizing production in higher-producing zones. Some of the technology, like satellite imagery, field-mapping and variable rate fertilizer application, may seem complicated at first, but your PRO Co-op precision ag team will help you make sense of it all. Once you start farming by the zone, we’ve found that for most growers, there’s no looking back.
PRO Co-op Precision Farming
The goal of PRO Co-op’s Precision Farming program is to harness the power of GPS/GIS and the incredible equipment used in modern farming to maximize your yield potential on each acre. The combination of technology and local agronomic expertise results in a precision program that cannot be replicated.
Precision farming takes place all season. It can be as simple as using a variable rate prescription for fertilizer that redistributes more of the nutrients you apply to your best ground. It can also be part of a season-long precision program that includes zone soil testing, zone tissue testing, variable rate fertilizer application, planned scouting events, and improved analysis of your yield data to manage the potential of your fields one acre at a time
Tanner Trower
General Manager
Variable Rate Application
Variable Rate Application increases the return on input investment. To be more specific, your fields have good soils and areas of high production potential, but they also have gumbo, salinity, low pH, high pH, and other issues. The inputs you apply have different returns depending on which soil they land on. Adopting variable rate management acknowledges that within a field, soil variability dictates applying inputs differently in different areas, whether it be fertilizer, seeding rates, fungicide, or lime.
PRO Co-op develops variable rate fertilizer prescriptions that can be utilized in air drills, planters, sprayers, or fertilizer spreaders. Supporting growers’ use of the prescriptions through their own equipment is part of our service!
We partner with Field Reveal to develop zone maps utilizing NDVI satellite images, elevation, and when available, yield data. Field Reveal also offers soil Electrical Conductivity mapping to further define soil type and improve zone accuracy.