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Knowledge of the variability of the soil is the first step in managing the field as separate zones.

EC data allows:

Precision Soil Sampling

Variable Rate Fertilizing and Liming

Precision Nematode Sampling

Variable Rate Nematicides

Determining areas of high Salinity

Varying your planting seed rates

EC data allows for more accurate soil sampling

Look at the picture above.  The sample sites are numbered and shifted to provide equal number of samples for each zone.  This in turn allows the samples to add meaning to the zones.


This Lime recommendation ranges from 0 to 6000 lbs, but with an average of only 4937 lbs and only 41 acres requiring lime on 59 acres

Here is a 3-way comparison of Aerial Infrared imagery, elevation contours, and EC readings.



Note that there is no correlation between the Infrared image and EC and only a 63% match between elevations and EC

 Unlike aerial Infrared Imagery which only measures the reflectance of the soil’s surface, EC data is a measurement of the soil profile both to depths of 18” and 40”.		  
   
What is a Dirt Detective?
What if you could travel over your field just once in your lifetime and know exactly where and how your soil changed down to a depth of over 3 feet?

The Dirt Detective is an Electromagnetic sensor that measures the soil’s EC   (Electrical Conductivity).

As stated by the USDA/ARS Research paper:

Measurement and Uses of Soil Electrical Conductivity

 “This measurement of electrical conductivity of the soil profile provides an indication of the depth and area of soil layers, soil texture, organic matter content, cation exchange capacity, and salinity levels.”

EC allows you to vary your seeding rate by soil water content

                   

The range of seeds/acre was from 34388-45392.  The average seed rate was 40462.

A seeding rate of 3.5 seeds/row foot would be 48145 seeds/ac.

Thus, variable rate seeding based on EC resulted in a 16% Decrease in your planting cost.

All this information is Geo-Referenced (GPS) and ready to be used by you or your scout.		  
 
 
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