Tom J Bechman
DATA COLLECTOR: Note the information displayed in the middle of the planter monitor screen on organic matter, soil moisture and more. It’s sent to the cab from Smart Firmers on the planter. This is just one example of how you could make better management decisions based on data collected on your farm.
Technology that allows you to collect more data in the field than ever before and use that data to make crop management decisions is here. You can buy it today, and more is coming, says John Fulton, an Ohio State University Extension specialist.
He recently told Indiana certified crop advisers through a virtual session that prescriptive agriculture is the wave of the future. Collect and store data, then use it to make prescription maps to program equipment to make succinct changes in input rate or even input choice on the same pass across the field that is prescription agriculture at its core.
By Elizabeth Hawkins and John Fulton
Now that 2020 has wrapped up, it is time to look forward and make decisions to set our farms up for success in 2021. Each year, Ohio State University Extension partners with Ohio farmers to bring local research results to you through the eFields program. The 2020 eFields Research Report highlights 218 on-farm, field scale trials conducted in 39 Ohio counties. Research topics included nutrient management, precision crop management, cover crops, and forages. Other information about crop production budgets, planting progress, and farm business analysis was also included. New in 2020 was the addition of soil health and water quality trials.