Growers are seeing the benefits of a new precision farming service this season, evening up fields in what has been a very variable season.

Procam regional technical manager Nigel Scott highlighted that it has been the ideal season to adopt the company’s new precision farming service, with the more even crops being easier to manage.

“Variation this year has been more exaggerated than in other years,” he said.

See also: New precision farming service puts partnership at its core

The new FieldSense precision farming service – launched last autumn – is based on a collaborative approach between the agronomist and grower, with the aim of improving economic crop output and environmental gains.

Developed by the agronomy firm, it uses satellite mapping of both soil and crop variability to derive variable rate input applications, tailored to in-field variations.

Oilseed rape

Mr Scott pointed to two examples from this spring. The first was a field of oilseed rape, which had variability in biomass coming out of the winter.

To help even the crop up, they varied nitrogen fertiliser rates from 60-90kg/ha.

One key benefit of achieving a more even crop, Mr Scott explained, was with the flowering fungicide spray.

In uneven crops with parts of the field at different growth stages and flowering it can be very protracted.

This makes it more difficult to correctly time the flowering spray to protect the crop from sclerotinia.

Consequently, farmers may end up going through the crop twice rather than once, which is an extra cost.

The even depth of pods will also make it easier to time the desiccation spray.

Wheat

The other example Mr Scott highlighted at the Cereals event was in a field of wheat.

Historic satellite data showed consistent differences in biomass over a five-year period.

“The crop is telling us something,” he said.

The variability largely reflected differences in soil, with heaver areas seeing lower germination and consequently, lower plant populations.

So using this historic data, Procam and the farmer varied the seed rate upping it in the low biomass areas. The rate varied by a significant 60kg/ha ranging from 180kg/ha to 243kg/ha.

“The crop is looking more even this year and this has helped with the T1 fungicide timing,” said Mr Scott.

He explained that the key was to hit leaf 3. With a variable crop it can be tricky to time it right, with some areas receiving the fungicide too early and other parts receiving it too late.

Procam will be carrying out head counts and collecting yield data this harvest to quantify the benefits.