Technologies for measuring and managing soil variability
This Pathfinder Farm is hosted by Hew Dalrymple at Waitatapia Station, near Bulls. Hew was looking for economic approaches to measuring and mapping soil variability, and then to manage that variability to even out in-field yield variability. This project has investigated technology for scanning soils as a way to map differences in nutrient supply.
One trial on this Pathfinder Farm involved detailed mapping of soils and crop yield in two paddocks. Techniques included grid soil sampling, electromagnetic scanning (EM) and gamma ray soil scanning. Crop yields were measured using the harvesters yield monitor. All results were loaded into a common platform for analysis.
Listen to Hew's Cut the Crop episode - Pathfinder farm tackles yield variability