AgricOyo: Technologies That Can Help Oyo Farmers

Nitrogen utilization

The extreme price fluctuations of nitrogen fertilizer have not been lost on seed companies. They currently are developing corn hybrids with the ability to better use available nitrogen.

“With nitrogen costs at the level of seed costs for corn producers, nitrogen utilization will get the market’s attention,” says Bob Nielsen, professor of agronomy, Purdue University. “Much will depend on how the trait is expressed — producing the same amount of corn with less applied nitrogen or improved yield with the same amount of nitrogen.”
Major seed companies including Monsanto are now conducting research on nitrogen utilization. “We are working to collect the data and develop the understanding of the mechanism of how we can increase corn yield at existing nitrogen levels or maintain corn yield with reduced nitrogen levels,” says Steve Padgette, vice president of biotechnology, Monsanto. “Our team is working to identify products to take to the next level of our development pipeline and ultimately to regulatory testing.” – Mark Moore

Highly efficient ethanol production


“Ethanol biorefineries operate in a constant state of change,” states the Renewable Fuels Association (RFA). With technologies such as fractionation and biomass gasification, ethanol producers have greatly reduced the amount of fossil fuel energy needed to produce ethanol and distillers grains.

When ethanol was first produced in the 1970s, the production process was highly inefficient. More energy was used to produce ethanol than ethanol produced when used. This negative energy factor has changed drastically so that, today, it is now positive. According to POET’s Erin Heupel, the ratio of energy produced by ethanol compared to energy needed to make ethanol is 2.3 to 1.
Many ethanol plants also have cut their use of fresh water. The plants use pretreated water from water treatment facilities or more efficient water technologies. The RFA reports that, since 2001, ethanol producers have reduced water requirements by 26%. Many plants use less than 3 gal. of water to produce 1 gal. of ethanol as well as distillers grains. POET is working to further reduce water consumption to 2.33 gal./1 gal. of ethanol produced. – Lynn Grooms

Biologicals

Expect to see more biological pest control and growth enhancements as farmers look for more environmentally friendly and cost-efficient crop inputs. Advanced technologies, such as high-throughput screening, are also helping companies to quickly multiply beneficial organisms, thus driving development of new biologicals.

Products like Bayer CropScience’s biological nematicide Votivo, and the Harpin Alpha Beta protein for early plant growth in Monsanto’s Acceleron, seed treatment are examples of biologicals being promoted by large crop protection companies. Advanced Biological Marketing is integrating its Induced Gene Expression Triggers (iGET) technology into several of its products (such as SabrEx, root inoculant for corn).
Biofungicides such as Becker Underwood’s Vault HP, and AgraQuest’s Ballad Plus, are used to protect soybeans. Becker Underwood introduced Polymer 1172-O, a water soluble seed polymer designed to bind biological performance enhancers and seed protectants onto seed in organic production systems.
Novozymes BioAg has focused on biofertility products but plans to expand into biopesticides. Moreover, Novozymes recently announced that it agreed to acquire EMD/Merck Crop BioScience, which has a long history of biofertility product development. – Lynn Grooms

Soil and crop sensors

More farm equipment today is being outfitted with smart sensors that can read everything from plant health and water needs in the crop to nitrogen levels in the soil. The sensors then enable on-the-go application of inputs based on real-time field conditions.

The newest area of sensor use is in irrigation where the sensors measure water needs. Sensors help optimize water use and avoid yield loss, according to Viacheslav Adamchuk, ag engineer, McGill University.
New optical-sensing technologies for determining crop health include Trimble’s GreenSeeker, Topcon’s CropSpec, and Ag Leader’s Opt-Rx. These intelligent systems measure light reflectance from the crop that translates into nitrogen levels. Electronic controllers connected to the sensors then signal application systems to apply the correct amount of nitrogen the crop needs.
Sensor technology also is available to measure soil features like soil electrical conductivity, ground elevation, organic matter content and even pH. For example, Veris Technologies, Geonics and Dualem all make different types of soil sensors.
Another type of sensing system is satellite or aerial imaging, called remote sensing. These satellites shoot images of key agricultural areas every three to four days to note differences in crop health. Growers can then apply nutrients based on a prescription from the satellite images.
Experts in this area expect an explosion in use of sensor technology in the next five years once costs come down and farmers realize a return on investment. – Jodie Wehrspann and Karen McMahon

High-flex tires
Farm equipment is getting larger so farmers can cover more acres faster. But this means more weight on the vehicles, which leads to soil compaction. Soil compaction robs crop yields.

To tackle this problem, tire makers are developing new tire technologies to transfer the weight across a larger area. As a result, tires today are up to 7.5 ft. tall, 4 ft. wide and have more flexible sidewalls that can withstand heavier weights than standard radials. The bigger the footprint, the tighter the pressure applied to the ground. A good analogy of this concept is that a 100-lb. woman in high-heeled shoes exerts more weight per square inch than a 200-lb. man in work boots.
New tire technologies include increased flexion (IF), very high flexion (VF), and radial plus (R+). Tires with these technologies can be run at 20 to 40% lower air pressures than standard radial tires, which creates a longer footprint. – Jodie Wehrspann

Automated grain off-loading

Navigation systems that automatically guide grain carts alongside combines to improve on-the-go cart filling may be just around the corner. The same concept also could soon be in play with forage-harvesting systems.

“These systems will make it easier to fill a grain cart or wagon automatically,” says John Fulton, a precision agriculture specialist at Auburn University. “I think a 10 to 15% improvement in harvest efficiency through improved off-loading is achievable. It may be even higher for some folks. Improved efficiency on that scale could have a tremendous impact financially.”
Fulton says tethered systems probably will be driven by the controller and navigation system on the combine or forage harvester. The systems are likely to use GPS/GNSS navigation to align the cart and control its ground speed relative to the harvester. Integrated sonic and/or visual sensors would be used to monitor the cart or wagon to assure efficient filling.
“It can be hard for an operator to both drive and watch the entire loading process of the cart or wagon,” Fulton says. “Remote video camera systems can definitely help out, but the operator must still drive and make decisions. With an automated system, the operator doesn’t have to make all those judgments.” As a result, it’s more likely that cart or wagon capacity will be fully used and that slowdowns during off-loading will be minimized.
It’s unclear when these integrated harvest navigation systems will be introduced, but Fulton says that research is well under way. “I would suspect most every large self-propelled forage-harvesting equipment and combine manufacturer is working on this type of automated solution,” says Fulton, who has seen prototypes at European farm shows. – David Hest