Fertilizer Tech and Trends - 1

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (DTN) -- As farmers push to be more efficient in applying fertilizer, there is a growing demand for new tools to collect fertilizer data, as well as application equipment to meet their needs.

On the data collection side, the FieldScout GreenIndex+ from Spectrum Technologies, Inc. attracted much attention at National Farm Machinery Show this year. The Plainfield, Ill., company manufactures a complete line of monitoring equipment.

"We had a lot of folks stop by the booth and many ask questions," Chris Bertelsen, row crop specialist with Spectrum Technologies, told DTN in an interview after the show.

The FieldScout GreenIndex+ application is a simple and economic way to manage the nitrogen need of corn crops from in the field, he said. The application collects in-season data via image analysis from an iPhone, iPad Touch or iPad. There is an Android version coming soon.

Bertelsen said the best time to use the application would be around the V4 to V6 stage of growth and right before a sidedressing operation to know the nitrogen needs of the plants. Buyers would also need to order a FieldScout GreenIndex+ board, a pink board with green and yellow circles on one end. Using the application, the user would calibrate on the green and yellow circles, and then take a picture of a corn leaf taut on the pink color of the board.

The application processes the photo and comes up with three readings: a Dark Green Color Index (DGCI), a Soil Plant Analysis Development (SPAD) equivalent and a nitrogen recommendation.

The DGCI is expressed from 0 to 1, the SPAD index is -9.9 to 199 and the nitrogen recommendation is at 90% and 95% yield levels. All the data can be kept and geo-referenced; it can also be emailed to your computer for further analysis, he said.

This tool allows the user to know instantly in the field how much nitrogen a field of corn has currently and what corrective measures can be put into place to prevent yield loss. It is also a fairly low-cost way to gain this information, Bertelsen added.

"It is just another tool in the toolbox to know what is out there and what is still needed with nitrogen fertilizer," he said.

Future versions of the FieldScout GreenIndex+ could include a version which could analyze wheat leaves as well as corn, Bertelsen said.

ADVANCES IN APPLICATION

Farmers want equipment that will allow them to apply fertilizer quickly and accurately, said Dave Gramling, product manager for Hiniker Agriculture Equipment.

"Interest in fertilizer equipment is extremely high," Gramling told DTN. "They want to be even more precise with fertilizer."

Hiniker introduced the new Variable Orifice Distributor (VOD) at last year's Farm Progress Show, but it was still attracting much attention at NFMS. The VOD controls anhydrous ammonia flow by simultaneously varying the openings at 17 distribution ports.

Gramling said a typical anhydrous rate control system uses a ball valve or butterfly valve to regulate flow prior to the point of distribution. The downside to this type of system would be a pressure drop created at the outlet of the regulating valve which can allow anhydrous to flash into a vapor and would create an uneven mix of liquid and vapor.

The VOD utilizes a single piston to control the flow and eliminates the need for the pressure-reducing ball or butterfly valve. Gramling said this design provides near tank pressure to the distributor which maintains liquid to the point of distribution.

"What this design does is create better row to row distribution, because there is less vapor entering the distributor," he said.

The VOD comes with 17 outlet ports, with the unused ports being blocked off for use on smaller application equipment. The VOD can be used with Hiniker control systems, as well as "major brands" of rate controllers, Gramling said.

The Micro-Trak SafeGuard Liquid Blockage Monitor is another application technology advancement. The Eagle Lake, Minn.-based company manufactures electronic monitoring and control equipment. It was unveiled at NFMS recently.

Rob Hoehn, sales manager for Micro-Trak, said the SafeGuard Blockage Monitor is an improvement over the visual ball monitors, which must be seen to assure liquid starter fertilizer is being applied to all rows when corn is being planted.

Hoehn said the problems with visual ball monitors is the window into the ball monitor can become cloudy from UV rays, get covered with dust or be hard to see at night and farmers might not see whether a row is receiving starter fertilizer. Also, the monitor is usually mounted on the planter, so the operator has to turn around much of the time to see it.

Another challenge is some starter fertilizer mixtures, such as black label zinc, makes the fertilizer black. This mixture will render the visual ball monitor useless, Hoehn said.

The SafeGuard Blockage Monitor is an electronic monitor which mounts in the cab of the tractor and saves the operator some neck pain by not having to turn around so much, he said.

"The monitor will alert you with both a visual display and audible alarm of what rows are seeing a blockage immediately," Hoehn said. "Farmers tell me they have been waiting for a long time for something like this."

Blocked rows are identified by a row number on the display; sensors monitor each row and instantly note if starter fertilizer isn't being applied. Hoehn said these sensors can be ganged together in the middle of the planter or placed individually over the row or even a combination of both.

The small monitor can be mounted anywhere in the cab and installed fairly simply, he said. No calibration is required; after installing the monitor, turn on the console, and it will begin to detect how many rows are being monitored and their location.

The SafeGuard Blockage Monitor comes as part of a kit and can be customized based on how many rows are needed. Hoehn said with newer planting innovations, such as split rows, sometimes a farmer will need an odd number of rows sensors for their particular planter.

Russ Quinn can be reached at russ.quinn@telventdtn.com

(ES/AG)

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