Saving Dollars,
Making Sense
Prices are rising for just about everything these days, and fertilizer costs in particular have skyrocketed. Increased input costs make it critical that growers get their money’s worth from their crop nutrition programs.
But now T-Systems International, the manufacturer of T-Tape® drip tape, has a solution: CropSense Technologies. CropSense provides growers with pertinent data on soil moisture as well as field-specific information on a crop’s fertility needs at a specific growth stage. These programs monitor the soil’s moisture and nutrient levels, keeping fertilizer costs in check and helping preserve the environment along the way.
T-Tape dealer Ray Vincent, of Vincent Farms in Delaware, began using these technologies to better manage root development on his farm. Plants with healthy roots are better equipped to take up fertilizer and water, especially as temperatures rise and the plant becomes stressed. By determining exact nutrient needs, Vincent was able to substantially reduce his fertilizer expenses.
Asked if he uses this technology as a validation tool, Vincent says it is much more than that. “We are using CropSense Technology as a decision-making tool.”
Instant Answers
To ensure his crops are developing healthy roots, Vincent, who runs the farm with his brother Clay and father Tom, needs to know if he is irrigating efficiently and isn’t over or under watering. To gather that information on his 500 acres of watermelon, pepper, fresh market tomatoes, and cantaloupes, Vincent uses CropSense Moisture Management Technology, offering real-time, in-depth information on soil moisture levels.
This data is taken from the soil via moisture probes that are placed in fields at various depths. The soil information is then downloaded from the probes and transmitted via telemetry to his personal computer. The data, in turn, helps Vincent determine the exact irrigation scheduling needed to adequately fill the root zone without pushing water and nutrients out of the target area.
Focus On Field-Specific Needs
“We got familiar with the Moisture Management Technology and then last year we implemented a Quick Soil and SAP testing regiment every two weeks,” says Vincent.
Every two weeks during the growing season, Vincent shipped soil tests from each of Vincent Farms’ 19 fields overnight to T-Systems’ lab in California, where they were analyzed by in-house CCA-certified agronomists. Within a few days, Vincent received feedback via the Internet on the current status of the plant, and the fertility condition of his soil as well.
In addition to sending the Quick Soil and SAP analysis to Vincent, T-Systems also sent the test results to Miller Chemical & Fertilizer Corp. in Hanover, PA. Miller Chemical specializes in nutritional agrochemicals. Randy Edwards, national accounts manager at Miller Chemical, works closely with Vincent. “Randy looks at recommendations and then figures out what mix should be applied to that field over the next two weeks,” Vincent says.
“We are using CropSense Technology as a decision-making tool.”
Miller Chemical analyzed the results and
developed a nutritional “prescription” for
plant needs based on each field’s condition,
and then determined the formula to be fed
through the drip tape.
From the tests, Vincent learned that he had a phosphorus deficiency. With the help of TSystems and Miller Chemical, Vincent learned that even though soil tests showed high levels of phosphorus, the phosphorus was not readily available to his crops.
One of Edwards’ jobs was to make the phosphorus available to the plant. “Vincent Farms has high soil phosphorus levels, and those high phosphorus levels are potential contaminants to the ground water,” Edwards explains. “That means we can’t add too much phosphorus to the soil.
“We’re using biological chemistry to make phosphorus more available to the plant,” he explains. “We are reproducing what plant microbes produce — carbon chain acids that literally help the plant absorb those nutrients and make them more available to the plant.”
“T-Systems brings to the table a road map of what the plant needs at a given time,” Edwards says, “and what we bring to the table is the ability to fill that need.”
The next step brought in the local United Agri Products (UAP) distributor. Once Miller Chemical determined the necessary nutrient profile, UAP formulated a nutrient solution. According to Danny LeCates, UAP sales account manager, providing Vincent Farms with field-specific nutrients every two weeks gives the grower a better handle on what fertilizer is needed at a given time. “It also gives [Vincent Farms] a good read on what that crop is extracting from the soil as the fruit matures.”
Significant Savings
2005 was a challenging growing season, which changed from cool and wet to stifling hot within a few days — so Vincent says he didn’t see much of an increase in yield last season. What he did see, however, was a substantial cost saving on fertilizer. “We nearly cut our fertilizer bill in half,” he says.
Along with that reduced fertilizer bill, the farm is now more environmentally conscious. Vincent says that phosphorous leaching into the groundwater and into the Chesapeake Bay has been a problem in the area for about 10 years. “Thanks to this program, we now have a more environmentally friendly way of applying fertilizer,” he says.
Had he had continued with his old fertility program, he may have over-fertilized his crops, Vincent says. He adds that under “normal” (warmer and drier) weather conditions, he expects to see yields increase.
Vincent isn’t the only grower who sees the advantages of CropSense Technologies. Edwards notes that a number of other growers in Delaware, the Carolinas, and Georgia have expressed interest in the program.
What type of grower will benefit the most from this technology? Says Edwards, “It is for someone who is willing to take an intensive approach to farming. Growers willing to monitor the details will benefit the most.”
