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ARS Home » Plains Area » Lincoln, Nebraska » Agroecosystem Management Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #125762

Title: STRATEGIES FOR ESTABLISHING MANAGEMENT ZONES FOR SITE SPECIFIC NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT

Author
item LUCHIARI, ARIOVALDO - EMBRAPA BRAZIL W/SWCRU
item Shanahan, John
item Schlemmer, Michael
item Schepers, James
item Francis, Dennis

Submitted to: Agronomy Abstracts
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: 8/23/2001
Publication Date: 8/23/2001
Citation: Luchiari, A., Shanahan, J.F., Schlemmer, M.R., Schepers, J.S., Francis, D.D. 2001. Strategies for establishing management zones for site specific nutrient management. American Society of Agronomy Abstracts. #145023. CDROM.

Interpretive Summary:

Technical Abstract: Recent precision agriculture research has focused on the use of management zones as a method to define areas for variable application of crop inputs. The goal of our work was to determine the capacity of terrain information, aerial photographs, magnetic induction, and yield mapping to effectively delineate management zones. For an irrigated cornfield near Gibbon, NE, soil color, elevation, aspect, slope, and soil electrical conductivity accounted for nearly 73% of the spatial variation in grain yield, indicating that these variables could be useful when developing management zones. These zones could in turn serve as a template for directed soil sampling schemes to characterize soil properties known to affect crop yield. Such information could provide a more economical means for variable application of crop inputs. This study indicates that organic matter content and all of its attributes are very important components of corn production.