Seems like a way to save a few dollars in fertilizer costs:
Variable Rate Technology (VRT) is a new tool in the toolbox to help producers put fertilizer and lime where it belongs.
How does VRT work?
1. Soil samples must be taken of a field using a GPS receiver to mark the points of the sample. Samples are taken in 2.5 or 5 acre grid samples.
2. Soil samples are sent to the lab. Once the results come back, the soil samples are reviewed. If there is a lot of variance in the field, the field is eligible to spread using our Variable Rate Spreader.
3. Once the go ahead has been given to spread variable rate, spreading maps are made. Spreading maps are a colorful picture of what the field looks like. It combines the information from the soil test results and the points of where the soil samples were taken to create a map of how to spread the field.
4. Once the maps have been made, an agronomist checks the information to make sure it is correct and the material is loaded in to the computer on the spreading machine.
5. The spreader truck has a GPS receiver on it, and as the truck drives through the field the information on the card is being read and telling the truck how much fertilizer or lime to put out in an area.
Currently, phosphorus, potassium, and lime are being spread using the variable rate technology.
Variable Rate Technology (VRT) is a new tool in the toolbox to help producers put fertilizer and lime where it belongs.
How does VRT work?
1. Soil samples must be taken of a field using a GPS receiver to mark the points of the sample. Samples are taken in 2.5 or 5 acre grid samples.
2. Soil samples are sent to the lab. Once the results come back, the soil samples are reviewed. If there is a lot of variance in the field, the field is eligible to spread using our Variable Rate Spreader.
3. Once the go ahead has been given to spread variable rate, spreading maps are made. Spreading maps are a colorful picture of what the field looks like. It combines the information from the soil test results and the points of where the soil samples were taken to create a map of how to spread the field.
4. Once the maps have been made, an agronomist checks the information to make sure it is correct and the material is loaded in to the computer on the spreading machine.
5. The spreader truck has a GPS receiver on it, and as the truck drives through the field the information on the card is being read and telling the truck how much fertilizer or lime to put out in an area.
Currently, phosphorus, potassium, and lime are being spread using the variable rate technology.
