May 21, 2024

Optimizing Winter Wheat with Variable Fertilization Using Agremo

Background

Optimizing winter wheat farming with variable fertilization strategies presents significant challenges. Efficient resource management, yield optimization, and waste minimization are critical for success. Precision agriculture, powered by cutting-edge technology like Agremo, is transforming this landscape. This case study explores how a 2.15-hectare winter wheat farm leveraged Agremo’s technology, achieving impressive cost savings and enhanced crop health. Learn more about Agremo’s precision farming tools and how they can benefit your farm. This case study was conducted in cooperation with Ag Dron Company.

Project Overview

  • Area: 2.15-hectare winter wheat farm
  • Sowing Date: October 20, 2023
  • Mapping and Application Date: March 30, 2024
  • Drones Used: DJI Mavic 3M for mapping, DJI T30 for spraying
  • Local Conditions: 20°C with winds at 2.3 m/s

Objectives

The project aimed to:

  1. Demonstrate the economic benefits of variable fertilization.
  2. Evaluate the precision of the Agremo Fertilizer Tool.
  3. Assess the impact of elevation on plant vigor and treatment application.
  4. Compare the efficacy of drone-captured images against satellite images for plant vigor assessment.

The ultimate goal was to advocate for the widespread adoption of precision agriculture practices among efficiency-focused farmers.

Process and Innovations

High-Precision Mapping: The DJI Mavic 3M drone quickly captured high-resolution RGB and multispectral images. This provided crucial data for accurate prescription maps.

Efficient Data Processing: Agremo’s robust AI software platform processed the images rapidly. Stitched maps were ready in under an hour, enabling quick analysis and decision-making.

Agremo Fertilizer Tool: The user can identified field variability and create management zones. It assigned fertilizer rates to these zones, ensuring optimal nutrient distribution. This was particularly important for adjusting for elevation variations that affect plant growth.

Tailored Fertilization: The DJI T30 drone applied fertilizers precisely according to the prescription maps.

Follow-up Assessment: A drone flight two weeks later verified the effectiveness of the initial application. This provided further insights into the ongoing needs of the crops.

Impressive Outcomes

The project yielded significant results:

  • By applying nutrients variably, the farm saved 12.11% on fertilizer costs.
  • The entire mapping, analysis, and application process was completed within one day. This demonstrated the system’s efficiency and practicality for farmers.
  • Elevation variations significantly influenced plant vigor. This required adjustments in fertilizer dosage to optimize crop health and yield.
  • Drone imagery was as reliable as satellite images for assessing plant health. This supports the use of more accessible and frequent drone operations.

We demonstrated this use case in our previous Drones to Dollars webinar. To see it in action, watch the webinar recording.

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What Our Clients Say About Us

  • Agremo's AI solution turns DJI's drone imagery into actionable insights, and its recipe maps make our AGRAS drone a truly intelligent and precise spraying tool." The integration of the Agremo platform between Agremo and the DJI drone is a turnkey solution for precision agriculture.

    DJI Agriculture

    Smart Farming Team

  • As markets become more defined and customer expectations are increasingly specific, Black Gold believes that we must develop greater awareness of how our crops function. Agremo provides a new window into understanding what is happening in our fields at a more granular level and how to move the needle in the best direction.

    Bryan Bowen

    Director of Agronomy at Black Gold Farms

  • Agremo helps us better understand and adjust to changes throughout the growing season. The flexibility and agility the Agremo team has shown through their platform enable us to adjust and meet changing demands due to weather or pest developments as the season progresses. In addition, the Agremo team consistently listens to feedback to ensure that everything works as described for our specific use cases.

    John Glick

    CIO at Cochranville Ag Service

  • After introducing mapping and crop analysis reports to farmers, they could see their field from another perspective. Agremo is helping us bring essential information to farmers which were impossible to get until recently.

    Ramón Pagán

    Mapping Expert and President @ Caribe Drones // Puerto Rico

  • Agremo’s map is more specific. Competitors break their maps into half-acre grids, but Agremo colors the whole thing exactly how it is. Visually, it’s night and day. A lot of farmers are visual.

    Corey Nohl

    Drone Operator and Farmer @ Above All Aerial // MN, USA

  • With Agremo reports, farmers they can increase productivity, reduce major problems by having early warnings during the early stages of the crops preventing major losses. Bottom line, increase ROI while minimizing losses.

    Miguel Ángel Salgado

    General Manager & Mapping Expert @ Ansar Drone // Mexico

  • The best thing about the plant population reports is the accuracy, which is splendid and it is very important! Great service at eye level with the customer!

    Sune Enevoldsen

    Field Manager and Drone Operator @ Noble Nordmann // Denmark

  • The biggest benefit for farmers who use drones and Agremo reports is that they increase their yields, reduce costs or improve their productivity. In the end, all these benefits are lead to extra profits.

    Ciprian Iorga

    General Manager @ La Orizont // Romania

  • We introduced new farming methods to farmers in Africa, who recognized that Agremo and drones can provide them with quicker, more convenient, efficient and accurate way of gathering decision making information.

    Derrick Annan

    CEO @ Aeroshutter // Ghana

  • With Agremo, we doubled our productivity, and our forestry clients are happy with the Agremo reports necessary for the inventory system as well as a stem map with tree distribution.

    Curt Rogers

    Co-owner @ TimberDrone // USA

  • Of the few vendors who advertised drone imagery analytics, Agremo provided a vastly superior capability. It is extremely important to base any remote sensing assessment in solid ground truth. Agremo clearly excelled over their competitors.

    Konrad Kern

    Image Scientist @ Falcon Aerial Data // USA

  • Agremo Stand Count analysis shows how successful seeding was and how many plants farmers will be able to harvest. Withal, it can help to apply different sowing standards in different parts of the plot, in order to achieve the highest yields.

    Zdravko Hojka

    Agroservice and Product Manager (Maize and Oil Crops), KWS SAAT AG

  • Since we ran our first report with Agremo, both our company and our customers continue to be impressed with the accuracy of the reports compared to our ground truthing. We have leveraged many Agremo reports but find the most value in crop health, weed and stand count analyses. We continue to leverage the Agremo intelligence as a proven way to improve our customers’ bottom line.

    Jeff Buyck

    VP of Precision Ag C&B

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    What precision agriculture reports do you need?

    • Weed Detection

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      • take immediate effective in-season corrective measures
      • get precise spraying maps
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      • reduce input costs in the low-productivity field areas
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      • get data on the exact location, condition, strength, and lushness of vegetation
      • optimize the usage of inputs, save on them and prevent over-application
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    • Plant Count and Size Analysis

      • Count all plants in the field, such as leafy greens, trees, or orchard tree fruits.
      • Classify them per user-set size parameters, and filter out the counted plants per size.
      • Prepare the harvest operation per yield-ready zones

    • Weed Detection

      • spot weed-infested areas in time
      • take immediate effective in-season corrective measures
      • get precise spraying maps
      Read more

    • Green Snap Detection

      • identify and classify areas with broken plants in the field
      • locate and quantify the crop damage
      Read more

    • Lodging Detection

      • detect and classify areas with lodged plants
      • locate and quantify the crop damage
      Read more

    • Stand Count

      • get the precise number of plants in a specific area
      • evaluate seed quality
      • assess field damages
      • know the zones of potential yield losses
      Read more

    • VRS Stand Count

      • calculate the percentage under the norm in each zone with the same seeding rate
      • reduce input costs in the low-productivity field areas
      • count plants in the best and the worst zones
      Read more

    • Plant Vigor

      • get data on the exact location, condition, strength, and lushness of vegetation
      • optimize the usage of inputs, save on them and prevent over-application
      Read more

    • Waterlogging Detection

      • quickly and accurately locate all potential waterlogged areas in your field
      • reduce the negative effects of waterlogging, regardless of the field size and crop sort
      Read more

    • Canopy Cover

      • get vital data on vegetation conditions and primary plant productivity
      • get the necessary details regarding the leaf area index (LAI)
      • determine the most optimal LAI for the fruits, vegetables, or cereals

       

      Read more

    • Plant Count and Size Analysis

      • Count all plants in the field, such as leafy greens, trees, or orchard tree fruits.
      • Classify them per user-set size parameters, and filter out the counted plants per size.
      • Prepare the harvest operation per yield-ready zones