Oswald No-Till Farm Cleghorn, IA | I use it for a baseline and try to get the grid coordinate information should I wish to navigate back to that area and retest myself. I have done some VRT P,K and believe that some farms may likely benefit if prior applications from manure or field history caused huge variability in the field.
Yes, there is data to suggest that the variability within a set of sample cores from one georeferenced point sampling area is as high as the variability one could find in a whole field so your concern is somewhat valid.
I think the value of the baseline is to see if there are patterns/shapes showing up on the maps that make some sense due to alignment with prior field history. Then you have the opportunity to decide if they are worth tackling with VRT applications. Also, you can do VRT yourself with a spreader and a map with some land marks on it. Just respread that area or dump more manure on it than the rest of the field.... just like our forefathers did.
Frankly, though I am interested in "precision ag", I am less concerned about the precise application of tonnage priced fertilizer than I was about the precision of the surgeon who cut around in my shoulder with small instruments poked through holes last Dec. 15. I wanted that guy precise for the time he was in there. The variability offered to us by Mother Nature each year is likely higher than we can cause by being off a bit with fertilizer application for a few years.
Edited by notilltom 2/7/2009 12:09
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grid/region soil sampling - is it worth the money
