Skip to main content
ARS Home » Midwest Area » Columbia, Missouri » Cropping Systems and Water Quality Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #104910
Title: QUANTIFYING SOIL AND LANDSCAPE VARIABILITY FOR PRECISION CROP MANAGEMENT

Author
item Kitchen, Newell
item Sudduth, Kenneth - Ken
item Drummond, Scott

Submitted to: American Chemical Society Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/23/1999
Publication Date: N/A
Citation: N/A

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Soil fertility considerations were initially the impetus for development and implementation of site-specific crop management, also known as precision agriculture. Recently, interest has intensified for devising inexpensive and accurate methods for measuring within-field soil and landscape properties that inherently impact crop productivity. Those properties related to soil water characteristics would especially be usefu in improving management of nitrogen(N) fertilizer. This paper reports on how automated soil electrical conductivity (EC) measurements along with landscape attribute data can be used to characterize within field variability. These measures have been used to evaluate yield map data, improve prediction of soil nutrient availability, develop sub-field management zones, and create N fertilizer management plans for improved fertilizer utilization. For example, EC measurements on claypan soil fields scorrelate well to topsoil depth above the claypan soil horizon, which can then be used to characterize variations in soil-water holding capacity and productivity potential within a field.