n cent of said. utiny ss-hedgercent purd using rice. o come ducers ely tor is r ghout ty in imes tratek Risk ison to n said aken s on cattle sked eight o bias d. r a comoes not e many alf achieve und the of a ce. Broadcaster Press 7 March 21, 2017 www.broadcasteronline.com National Ag Week Local Man Uses Modern Technology to Improve Crop Production By Loretta Sorensen Just about every yield advantage for corn and soybeans has been identified, except those that may only be observable from an aerial point of view. That potential for incrementally improving crop yield and quality is what motivates Mission Hill farmer Chris Nelsen to make use of drone technology. After buying his first drone four years ago, Nelsen has learned that a bird’s eye view can reveal important information about his crops and irrigation systems that give him an advantage for his bottom line. “Once a corn crop is four to five feet tall, there are a lot of things you can’t see just by looking across the field,” Nelsen says. “You could have insects attacking the crop, nutritional deficiencies in different areas of the field or maybe some flooding problems. You won’t be able to address those problems unless you have a way to identify them. Drones can help wit that.” Drone use in agriculture has evolved as operators like Nelsen have learned how to use them and drone technology has advanced. What started as a quick way to view a crop is now giving farmers an opportunity to obtain GPS coordinates for their entire field to create a map that can be overlaid on a yield map to reveal a higher degree of information about the crop. “The Cadillac of drones starts uploading data even as its flying over a field,” Nelsen says. “There are third party vendors who can take drone images and stitch them together to create a panoramic view of the crop. Add the geo reference data to that and you have a lot of information about your crop and your field.” Infrared photography is one of the emerging features of drones used in agriculture. Infrared photography can be used to help assess a plant’s health. Traditionally, infrared imagery for agricultural and ecological use has been captured from satellites and airplanes. The information it provides has been used mainly by large farming operations and academic research projects. However, farmers like Nelsen can now use drones to capture infrared images of crops and review the pictures to determine if plants are suffering from issues such as nitrogen deficiency or overwatering. “Infrared images will provide a comparison of how ‘green’ each plant is,” Nelsen says. “The greener the plant, the healthier it is. Nitrogen deficiency is a common plant health issue. However, something like a plugged or worn irrigation sprinkler package could be causing either excess or lack of water in an isolated area. Drones that capture infrared images at any time the farmer needs them can help in recognizing an issue and responding to it as soon as possible.” Infrared images of an operating irrigation sprinkler will reveal differences in the concentric circles created by the water, pinpointing an irrigation malfunction. “In the past, we had to rely on satellites to obtain these types of images,” Nelsen says. “If it happens to be cloudy on the day you need an image, you might have to wait at least three or four days for that satellite to pass over again. Drones can be launched anytime there’s a need.” Nelsen has found that ponding issues that don’t appear to be too serious when observed from the ground level can look much different from an aerial point of view. The drone can reveal the length and breadth of the ponding area as well as help in assessing the health of plants in that area. “If you use a $20,000 drone, you can have video and images to review as soon as the drone lands,” Nelsen says. “I don’t use one with those features, but I am able to view real time video on my phone or other digital device by using a drone app. You can view near infrared video, too.” Farmers like Nelsen who have implemented drone technology in their operations are finding that they have a wealth of data they don’t always know how to use. Partnering with an agronomist or other crop and soil specialists can help in mining the information drones gather. “You want to use that information to the best of your ability to maximize efficiency and productivity,” Nelsen says. “By putting the trained eyes of specialists like an entomologist on your information you may discover things you wouldn’t otherwise recognize.” Nelsen cautions that use of drones doesn’t relieve farmers of the need to physically scout their fields and get close to the crop. All the images and video in the world can’t replace that hands-on observation. “You can’t just farm from the sky,” Nelsen says. “You have to get out there. Just flying over a field with a drone isn’t going to make everything okay.” To select an appropriate drone, Nelsen ing them on his computer. Cloud storage is recommends completing research to learn usually an option for drone images. Nelsen about the features of different types of doesn’t rule out the use of other technolodrones and ask agricultural experts and gies to maximize his potential for top yield those engaged in the agriculture industry production. for their insight on the topic. “This past year we used a plane “There are companies who have all the equipped with a high end camera to review technical information and know all about some drainage issues before we planted designing and servicing a drone, but they to avoid losing nutrients to runoff,” Nelsen may not be able to help farmers undersays. “We can use the map generated stand the benefits of stitching crop images through that to overlay and correlate with together or even help them find a vendor our yield map to further identify any shortto provide that service,” Nelsen says. “Take comings or faults in specific areas.” time to weed out the drone companies that Nelsen believes drone technology will conaren’t equipped to specifically help you tinue gaining favor in the agriculture industry make the most of your drone.” because it extends the options for farmers to The normalized difference vegetation index refine crop production and improve overall (NDVI) is a simple graphical indicator that can yield with data captured from the air. be used to analyze remote sensing measure“Even a 2% or 3% loss is significant for ments to assess whether or not the observed farmers,” Nelsen says. “Losses can be reduced target contains live green vegetation. with tactics like fertilizer stabilizer to reduce NDVI maps show the difference between leaching or drone data to reduce ponding. the near-infrared (strongly reflected by veg- Incremental gains, especially in years with low etation) and red light (which is absorbed profitability, can make all the difference.” by vegetation). The maps can be created by drones that capture nearinfrared and red wavelength data. The information aids in activities like monitoring drought and predicting yield. It also provides data about density and intensity of green vegetation growth. Water stressed, diseased or dead leaves become yellow and reflect significantly less in the near-infrared range. “All this information can be used to help develop prescriptions for variable rate planting, fertilizing and irrigation,” Nelsen says. “It could also be used to develop spraying plans for insect or weed treatments. Based on the wave length emitted, you could program a sprayer to treat anything that varied from the wave length emitted by a corn plant. All of that precision matters in making crop production affordable and reliable.” Mission Hill farmer Chris Nelsen uses modern farming Nelsen has retained images technology, such as drones, to identify incremental from the past four years, stor- improvements in his crop production that positively impact his bottom line. Courtesy Photo by Loretta Sorensen Winter Wheat Breaking Dormancy Early Written collaboratively by Laura Edwards, Adam Varenhorst, and Emmanuel Byamukama. SDSU Extension Historically Warm February February 2017 will go down in the record books as one of the warmest Februaries on record, not just in South Dakota, but across the United States. Some Eastern parts of the state will end up more than ten degrees above average for the month. The Western region will end February around two to six degrees above average. As a result of these above average temperatures, the abundant snow pack that covered the state rapidly melted. As of February 27, most of the state was snowfree except for the Southern tier counties. Without snow cover to insulate the ground, soil temperatures can warm quickly, and winter wheat can break dormancy. Winter Wheat Emergence: Threshold Indicator A threshold indicator for winter wheat emergence is to consider average temperatures over a 14-day period. When that 14-day average temperature is equal to or above five degrees C, or 41° F, then hard red winter wheat can break dormancy. Historically in South Dakota, this threshold is met in the first week in April. Last year, in 2016, winter wheat broke dormancy in mid-March. This year, temperatures are on track for an even earlier dormancy break date, about a month earlier than average. This is consistent with the winter wheat growing region as a whole, in which many areas have already broken dormancy a month earlier than the historical average date, and also earlier than last year. Some warmer areas of the state, and warmer areas of some fields, were seen to have already broke dormancy the week of February 20th. This is a potentially risky situation, as historically there has been a 50% likelihood of a hard freeze (28° F) as late as May 1st-6th in most western and some central counties. In addition to the frost/freeze risk and winterkill, there are other potential concerns regarding insect pests and disease in winter wheat. Insect Pests During the spring of 2016 many insect pests were observed in winter wheat fields much earlier than anticipated. This was attributed to the warmer temperatures that led to winter wheat breaking dormancy in mid-March. Insects are cold blooded organisms that rely on environmental temperatures to regulate many of their activities. In addition, many insects that can be problematic in South Dakota overwinter in the southern U.S. Warmer temperatures may lead to earlier than normal flights. The army cutworm is one insect pest that was observed earlier than normal during 2016. Army cutworm caterpillars overwinter below the soil surface in winter wheat fields. Once the soil has sufficiently warmed up, they become active and will begin feeding on winter wheat. Due to the higher than average temperatures it is possible that the army cutworm populations may be observed earlier than normal in 2017. Once fields begin to break dormancy they should be scouted for army cutworm populations. Disease Mild winter weather can lead to survival of plant pathogens that normally would not survive in South Dakota. Stripe rust is one disease of concern that can survive mild winters in South Dakota. Stripe rust, which otherwise develops from spores blown from Southern states, has survived our winters in the last two years. With winter wheat likely to break dormancy early this year, this will increase the likelihood of stripe rust to develop earlier than normal. Winter wheat should be scouted as soon as wheat greens up and an early fungicide at herbicide timing planned if stripe rust is observed. FIRST DAKOTA SALUTES AGRICULTURE PROUD TO SUPPORT OUR LOCAL PRODUCERS Irrigation Sales & Service First Dakota National Bank salutes the families and businesses who work hard every day supporting the Ag industry. Without you, we would not have the land for a resource or be able to enjoy our quality of life. Ag Week Open House - Friday, March 24 8:30AM - 12:00PM | Coffee and Pastries First Dakota Conference Room 624-5555 1110 E Cherry Street :: Vermillion FirstDakotaAg.com Irrigation PVC, Wire Installed, Well Drilling Domestic & Irrigation Pump Installation WATERLINE & ELECTRIC TRENCHING Tree & Concrete Removal, Site Clearing, & Ditch Trenching ALL TYPES OF DIRT WORK - FREE ESTIMATES Bobcats • Crane • Dozers • Excavators • Grader Grain Trailer • Scrapers • Side Dumps • Trenchers Vermillion, SD (605)670-9567 Hartington, NE (402)254-2568 Licensed in SD, NE & IA