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| When I first started in PA in '99 we used a Veris cart to aid in Smart sampling. A packer/grower gave me a chance to prove myself/new technology. The suggested a new block that they wanted to bring into production for sweet potatoes. Of course it was their worst 40 acre parcel that they were trying to bring up to standards. Ran the Veris on 40' swaths and created two maps, 0-1' and 0-3'. When I laid the maps out on the desk I explained what the values/colors could mean and told them what I remembered of how the cart/pick up pulled, the color changes in the soil, and the noises from the springs on the coulters. SILENCE
Then the partners started talking about the old wetlands where the canal had drained and that they had hunted as kids, the hills that had been cut by their dads, the holes that were filled and it all made sense. I had the keys they held the lock! I had taken what they knew in their minds and had put it to paper. But I also reminded them of how the land was originally before it had been leveled. (2-3' cuts were obvious)
We followed it up with VR to correct ph, fertility for the next several years.
Today it is a 3 year old orchard planted with his RTK Autosteer, with no signs of variablity. They still compare soil samples to the original sample sites that were determined with the Veris data!
PA should be looked at as a cycle....and always quantify your actions. | |
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Value of GPS to agriculture
