Water use has decreased an estimated 4% because of current precision agriculture adoption with the potential to further decrease 21% at full adoption.Fossil fuel use has decreased an estimated 6% with the potential to further decrease 16%.Herbicide use has been reduced by an estimated 9% and has the potential to further decrease 15% at full adoption.Precision agriculture has improved fertilizer placement efficiency by an estimated 7% and has the potential to further improve an additional 14%.
Productivity has increased an estimated 4% and has the potential to further increase 6% with broader adoption.The study finds that as precision agriculture equipment and technologies are more widely adopted, there will be increases in yields and input savings. The Association of Equipment Manufacturers partnered with the American Soybean Association, CropLife America and National Corn Growers Association in the study. Now, the pivots are operated from smartphone applications and checked once daily or less.Ī recently released study attempts to quantify how precision agriculture allows farmers to use less to grow more. In addition, before sensors, checking the irrigation rigs was twice-per-day activity with the pickup. He includes equipment wear and tear and energy costs in that calculation. With less water usage, the center pivots last longer.īut what about the cost of sensors? The sensors cost $8 to $10 per acre and if the number of trips across the field is reduced three or four passes, they are money ahead, Hunnicutt said. When comparing the drought years of 20, he noticed a marked decrease in irrigation water usage as the sensors alerted the grower when water was needed, reducing water usage. The implementation of precision agriculture resulted in a variety of savings in their center pivot irrigation system, Hunnicutt said. They are also working with an Israel-based company on a nitrogen sensor. The newest sensors rely on ground-penetrating radar, Hunnicutt said. The sensors are installed after the corn emerges and they are removed after the cropping season. Most recently, they began using sensors to guide their center pivot irrigation system. Then it was on to variable rate planting and variable rate spraying to avoid overlapping and save money. Next, they added yield mapping to see what was going on in the field come harvest. "We saw the benefits of it fairly quickly," said Hunnicutt, who serves on the National Corn Growers Association board. Precision farm concepts have been in use on their farm for 20 years or so, starting with autosteer when they converted from ridge till to strip till. They use irrigation and practice strip till and no till. He farms with his father, Daryl, and his brother, Zach. Hunnicutt raises corn, soybeans, seed corn, popcorn and sorghum. Nebraska farmer Brandon Hunnicutt said the savings from precision agriculture add up in dollars and sense.
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