Managing resources and visualizing ROI with data and digital farming
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With the completion of planting, optimizing seed investment is top of mind for farmers. But how do we know that the decisions made on the farm are making a difference to the bottom line? It all starts with data, and with digital agriculture technology, farmers are now able to make better, more informed decisions when faced with challenges to optimize yields, maximize efficiency and reduce risk.
Ensuring seeding data is up-to-date is the first step to providing accurate comparison of yield versus inputs. With digital farming tools such as FieldViewTM, the flagship digital farming product from Bayer, farmers can easily collect, store and analyze field data to validate management practices and input decisions. By connecting directly to tractors, combines and other precision agriculture platforms, data can be collected in real-time and reviewed on monitors to track performance in-season.
Today’s agriculture industry is facing rapid changes and challenges, from extreme weather events to economic fluctuations. In order to better manage these challenges, resource management has become even more critical for farmers to make every dollar go further.
Digital tools can play a key role in tracking and managing resources. With field health imagery captured in FieldView, farmers can assess biomass data to help them determine whether fungicide and insecticide applications may be necessary during the growing season. Farmers can then use these maps and data to create on-off scripts for in-crop applications so they know exactly where they want to apply a crop protection product, maximizing ROI potential by spraying where the crop will likely benefit the most, and not spraying where it won’t.
Similarly, the use of fertility scripting now provides farmers with easy-to-use editing tools to create variable rate fertility prescriptions, reducing the time spent on writing scripts and helping to optimize fertility usage across multiple fields.
“We’ve found that getting fertility right has been one of the most important factors we can control that has a direct impact on yield and quality,” says Jonathon Dear, a 10,000 acre seed grower near Hepburn Saskatchewan. “Using FieldView to make data-driven scripts has been a true game changer for us to identify fertility variability and ensure each field has the right inputs for the best results possible. It’s easy to use and gives peace of mind that everything is optimized to the needs of the crop and for the highest return on investment.”
