Abstract
Use of variable rate fertilizer spreaders (VRS) is available to farmers in many areas of Kentucky. For use of VRS, a soil fertility map must be prepared for the field to be spread which requires subdividing the field into subunits. Each subunit is then soil sampled separately. A common procedure in commercial use is to grid a field into 2.5 acre blocks and to take a composite sample of 6-8 cores along the perimeter of a circular radius of 60-80 ft from the center of each block. Each block receives a separate fertilizer recommendation based on results from the soil test. With this information, a VRS can be programmed to apply the recommended rate of fertilizer on-the-go to each specific block as it drives across the field. The objective is to direct the amount (or kind) of fertilizer to soil test variations which occur within the field. This approach assumes that the result from each soil sample of each block uniformly represents the soil test level for all the area within that block. It also assumes that the VRS applies fertilizer (amount and kind) uniformly across its swath width and along the pathway it is driven across each block. These assumptions may be questionable. We conducted a study to measure soil test levels within blocks of a field which had been soil tested on a grid, before fertilizer was applied and at harvest, 6 months later. The objective was to define soil test variability within blocks before and after VRS fertilization. This information should provide insight into the effectiveness of on-the-go VRS fertilizer application in lowering soil test variability between individual blocks.
Publication Date
1998
Volume
19
Number
6
Repository Citation
Wells, Kenneth L. and Dollarhide, James E., "Precision Agriculture: The Effect of Variable Rate Fertilizer Application On Soil Test Values" (1998). Soil Science News and Views. 7.
https://uknowledge.uky.edu/pss_views/7
