Precision Interest Booms In Delmarva

I was disappointed that conflicting travel kept me from getting to Josh McGrath’s Mid-Atlantic field day this past summer. Josh works at the University of Maryland, and he and his team have become the de facto precision agriculture coordinators for the region, which includes the closely watched and highly regulated Chesapeake Bay area.

When I called this week, Josh talked about the locals being immersed in a difficult harvest. “The hurricane knocked corn down virtually flat, and it’s taking ten times longer to harvest,” he says. He’s also getting ready for a fall and winter loaded with traveling, talks and PowerPoint presentations.

But he’s also working on planning for the next big summer field day, because this past year’s event drew a big crowd that was really in technology.

“The big takeaway for me is that there is a hunger in the agricultural community here in the mid-Atlantic, for practical information on implementing precision agriculture techniques,” says McGrath. "And I mean at the next level, beyond the yield monitor. We have a lot of auto steering and that sort of thing, but management tools were of particular interest.”

One of the more popular speakers was Dr. Randy Taylor from Oklahoma State University, who did a presentation on doing your own farm research. “He showed how you could use your yield monitor, application maps, and seeding rate maps and bring all that data together to do research.”

Among attendees who are experienced technology users, McGrath says that the big need in the region is technical support. “They are saying that we have these tools, now how do we integrate the data and make changes based on the information,” he says.

There was also plenty of interest in technology from those who’re yet to engage with precision ag practices. With so much of the technology becoming standard on new equipment purchases, growers are looking for ways to use the new capabilities to improve farming practices. McGrath says that by far, this sort of data management and decision support is sorely needed in the region, and he hops that his team can play a key role in filling the void.

On Tap For 2012

On the research side, next year McGrath and his team will continue its work with on the go sensor technology for variably applying nitrogen, collecting data from participating farms and tweaking the algorithm that drives the technique. Work will continue despite not getting an NRCS grant that would have expanded his research program over several thousand acres. NRCS’ failure to support McGrath’s proposal will be the subject of future blogs in this space.

Josh is also looking to partner up with someone to look at how varying the rate of planting impacts nutrient requirements, and whether that piece of the agronomic puzzle can be added to the mix to help fine tune fertilizer recommendations even further.

Finally, this winter Josh and his team are going back to school and training themselves on the GIS software packages that growers and consultants are using. He hopes that his team will be able to use that knowledge to help support the consulting community with training and advice.

“The consulting community needs to get trained on these technologies so they can be the support net for the farmers in applin precision technology in the field,” says McGrath. “One way we can magnify our impact is by supporting the consultants.”