Premium
Economic Feasibility of Variable‐Rate Nitrogen Application Utilizing Site‐Specific Management Zones
Author(s) -
Koch B.,
Khosla R.,
Frasier W. M.,
Westfall D. G.,
Inman D.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
agronomy journal
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.752
H-Index - 131
eISSN - 1435-0645
pISSN - 0002-1962
DOI - 10.2134/agronj2004.1572
Subject(s) - profitability index , variable (mathematics) , center pivot irrigation , fertilizer , profit (economics) , agricultural engineering , irrigation , yield (engineering) , precision agriculture , mathematics , environmental science , agricultural science , agronomy , agriculture , economics , engineering , ecology , biology , physics , mathematical analysis , microeconomics , thermodynamics , finance
Variable‐rate technology (VRT) has been developed to variably apply crop inputs to manage in‐field variability. Although growers have begun to adopt VRT, its profitability is uncertain in N management. The objective of this study was to assess the economics of uniform vs. variable‐rate N fertilizer application under two N application scenarios (farmer vs. custom applications). On‐farm studies were conducted on two continuous corn ( Zea mays L.) fields in northeastern Colorado under furrow and center‐pivot irrigation during the 2000 and 2001 growing seasons. The N management strategies were uniform, grid‐based, site‐specific management zone–constant yield goal (SSMZ‐CYG) and site‐specific management zone–variable yield goal (SSMZ‐VYG). “Profit and loss” software was used to analyze the economics of each N management strategy and determine which N strategy was most profitable. Results from three site‐years consistently indicated that less total N fertilizer (6–46%) was used with the SSMZ‐VYG N management strategy when compared with uniform N management. Net returns from the SSMZ‐VYG N management strategy were $18.21 to $29.57 ha −1 more than uniform N management. Results of this study suggest variable‐rate N application utilizing site‐specific management zones are more economically feasible than conventional uniform N application.