Location: Cropping Systems and Water Quality Research
Project Number: 5070-21600-001-007-S
Project Type: Non-Assistance Cooperative Agreement
Start Date: Aug 1, 2023
End Date: Feb 28, 2026
Objective:
Participate with the cooperator in the activities of the Digital Agriculture Research and Extension Center (DAREC). Specific objectives are to develop, evaluate, and deploy sensing, decision-support, and machine control technology to enable digital agriculture systems focused on soil health, crop nitrogen management, and advanced planting technology.
Approach:
Field-scale research will be conducted at the USDA-ARS Central Mississippi River Basin research site near Centralia, MO., and one or more DAREC fields. Specifically, the project will:
• Collect and analyze proximal soil sensor (planter sensor, soil electrical conductivity, soil spectra) and remote crop sensor (UAV and vehicle mounted) data in field-scale experiments with an emphasis on refining spatial decision support for nitrogen management.
• Collect and analyze soil sensor data to estimate soil health in field-scale experiments.
• Document planter-sensor performance in estimating seed-zone soil properties and investigate hardware and calibration changes to improve estimates.
