This was our first yr using prescription files for variable rate thru Insight to sidedress NH3. We had sidedressed last yr w/Insight, though no prescription.

Actually, I have found it to be quite fast & easy. I realize others may have different experiences & file types though. I used prescription files from 2 different agronomist guys. Both came to me via email in .shp (shape) files. As you may know, there are 3 different file types within the shape format that make up a single file (field in my case). If you haven't done this before, you simply copy the 3 files making up one field to the Insight data card & insert it. Go to the FIELD NOTES tab on the RUN screen & check on the RX box, if you are in fact going to use prescription variable rate. Then a list of the shp file names comes up that exists on your card. You don't see all 3 file types, just the field name. Touch the field you want & then the Insight has to do a conversion internally since it actually uses a different file type for prescription. It converts the shp file you supplied into an .irx file it needs to run. This conversion is automatically supplied by the Insight, but you have to tell it to go ahead & convert. A disclaimer comes on the screen saying that it may take a while to do the conversion & that it may not work out right. That concerned me, plus I believe others pointed out here on Precision Talk of the potential conversion problem.

But, I've not had any trouble. Conversion time? In one case, I had a 160A field & I'm guessing the conversion time was about 1.0 second. I was going to time it, but it was almost over before it started. That certainly didn't seem very long to me. Of the several hundred acres of prescription I've done, I've not seen any errors that I know of. I print a pdf map beforehand of how the field should appear w/rate changes and it looked just fine to me during application. After you choose to do the prescription, you have a "background" map on the run screen of your prescription map. Then as you physically apply, you have an overlay map on-screen showing actual swaths & applied rates. It worked just great....for me. There is one screen that pops up before the actual conversion takes place. The Insight asks "which column of the shp do the rates reside" (or something like that). I had no idea what it was asking there, but a quick call to Linco Equipment guys talked me thru it. While Insight asks that question, it also displays a list of the "columns" & one of those columns has numbers in it that look like N rates....100#, 120, etc. However, you DO have to know & verify whether the person making the prescription was using actual N, or raw NH3 rates. It doesn't matter, the Insight will do either, but it does ask you that question for the conversion. Once you understand the question-doing the conversion takes only seconds...literally. When the conversion is finished, then you choose that new "irx" file that appears & go back to your RUN screen.

As DonG pointed out previously, you can, at any time during prescription application switch to some fixed rate (auto rate or manual rate controlled) and choose to NOT use the prescription. Or-you can jump back in to prescription at any time. Anyway, that's how mine worked.

Photo below was taken only using RATE 1 (aka Target Rate 1) mode, not prescription. I'll take a photo of that when we get going again. Thanks for all the previous help here on variable rate application.