Purdue News

September 18, 1998 Purdue offers global positioning display WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- An eye-in-the-sky, birds' eye view of your farm field could be just what you need to fine-tune your farm production. And you can get it from global positioning satellites, which allow an in-depth analysis of production components ranging from nutrient analysis to yield rates, from pest problems to soil density. For farmers who just aren't sold on the merits of this investment, a Purdue University exhibit at the 1998 Farm Progress Show will offer a chance to check out some of what GPS has to offer without coughing up the cash. Comprehensive data from a 10-acre field of no-till corn adjacent to the show site will be available for review. The Farm Progress Show will be held Sept. 29-Oct. 1 near Windfall, Ind., in Tipton County. "The full agronomic data set from the demonstration field will be available on a bank of 10 computers in the Ag Tech 2000 tent as well as two computers in the Purdue tent," said Lee Schweitzer, Purdue agronomist and one of the coordinators of the exhibit. "Visitors to the show can walk up to the computers, look at the data, and ask questions of Purdue experts who will be on hand." In addition, Purdue staff and industry specialists will discuss geo-reference agronomic observation as a crop management tool from 2:15 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. daily in the Ag Tech 2000 tent. Using the network of former military satellites to pinpoint locations in a farm field allows precision farming -- instead of applying fertilizer or pesticides to an entire field at a single rate, farmers test the soil and crop yields for much smaller areas of the field and apply just the amount of chemicals that each area of the field needs. The demonstration field for the Farm Progress Show is in its 10th year of no-till corn and soybeans in an alternating rotation. Part of a larger field, it was planted May 15 with Pioneer 35N05 corn at a seeding rate of 30,000 per acre. A computer map of the field was created by photographing the 10-acre area in 360 degree sweeps. The resulting 420 photos were then combined to produce a computer-navigable "virtual" field at the three-leaf corn stage, nine-leaf stage and milk stage. Data were collected on a quarter-acre grid in the field periodically from April 14 until harvest. The data cover a wide variety of measurements, including soil mechanical resistance, surface residue cover, and extended leaf height. The field's soil types were remapped to contain more detail than standard county soil surveys. Measurements were also taken on levels of soil nutrients, soil nitrates, leaf chlorophyll and leaf nitrogen. Yield components and pest scouting, such as a corn rootworm larval root feeding survey, were completed with the use of the GPS system. After harvest the season's data will be reviewed to determine possible sources of yield variation within the field. The project is a cooperative effort involving Purdue's agronomy, agricultural and biological engineering, botany and plant pathology, and entomology departments. Other participants are the Purdue Cooperative Extension Service, Agricultural Communication Service, T by 2000 staff, Natural Resource Conservation Service, Erny's Fertilizer, and the Potash and Phosphate Institute. The Farm Progress Show, organized by Farm Progress Cos., rotates among Indiana, Illinois and Iowa. This year, it will be held on 1,100 acres of farmland owned by Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. along Indiana 213 near the Howard County/Tipton County line. Exhibits will highlight various aspects of agriculture in the tri-state area. Gates will open at 7:30 a.m. and close at 5 p.m. daily. Admission is $5 per person, free for those under age 18. The Purdue Farm Progress Show Web page provides general show information, layouts and maps of the show and Purdue exhibits, news releases from Purdue, and a list of Purdue ag experts who will be at the show. Source: Lee Schweitzer, (765) 494-4789; e-mail, lschweitzer@dept.agry.purdue.edu Writer: Jane Houin, (765) 423-2890; e-mail, news_students@aes.purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; e-mail, purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page