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UNL research focuses on crop canopy sensors

A University of Nebraska research project is focused on the use of crop canopy sensors to direct variable-rate, in-season nitrogen application in corn.

Even though crop canopy sensor technology has been around for a decade or so, it has not yet seen widespread adoption by growers. But the leader of the UNL project, Richard Ferguson, says their 2015 tests show the use of the sensors can produce positive results.

“On average, we found that we could reduce the fertilizer rate, compared to what the farmers were already doing, by about 40 pounds per acre using the sensor technology,” Ferguson says.

That did cause a yield reduction of five bushels per acre, he says.

“But by the combination of delaying application into the growing season and using the sensors to fine-tune the rate, we were able to increase profit per acre by a little over ten dollars per acre, on average, across these sites.”

Project SENSE (Sensors for Efficient Nitrogen Use and Stewardship of the Environment) will continue in 2016, but Ferguson thinks the use of crop canopy sensors has the potential to increase farmer profitability and reduce environmental impacts.

AUDIO: Richard Ferguson