The drought monitor report as of Tuesday, Oct. 20, indicates almost all of our area still in extreme drought with exceptional drought creeping into southern Stafford County. There are only small slivers in three counties not at least abnormally dry. Exceptional drought, it doesn’t get any worse, covers about one-third of the state with extreme drought another third. The six to ten-day outlook (Oct. 25 to 29) indicates a 33 to 40% chance of below normal temperatures and near normal precipitation. The eight to 14-day outlook (Oct. 27 to Nov. 2) indicates a 40 to 50% chance of above normal temperatures and a 33 to 40% chance of below normal precipitation. The outlook is pretty grim until the first of next year.
TMI (Too Much Information) is an acronym for instances when people tell you much more information than you really want or care to know. How does this relate to agriculture? This column and almost everyone in crop production preaches that you can’t have enough information. Information allows a producer to make the best economic and agronomic decisions. We will accept that as true. So how can you have too much information? Let’s take time to consider this.
• The last 30 or so years have witnessed and information explosion in agriculture, especially the last 15 years. We now have yield monitors to map the yield over small parts of each field in detail. Soil grid sampling along with interpolations methods allow us to accurately measure soil properties from pH to various nutrient levels from phosphorus, potassium and zinc to organic matters levels. Plant nutrient levels can be monitored remotely or through tissue analysis. We can monitor soil moisture levels across a field. And the list goes on. Sounds good and in many ways, it is, however we can suffer from information overload. How?
• Producers have many options for obtaining soils information. For precision agriculture, grid sampling is recommended. This allows you to know how a given factor changes across a field. You can generate many data layers: pH, organic matter levels, phosphorus (P), potassium, electrical conductivity, etc. However, you may not need all this data collection or at least no annually. You may know you soil has a pH well-above 7. There is no reason to worry about soil acidity. Or your nutrient levels, say P, may be in the very high range. Or perhaps, you have sampled for sulfur and your soil has very low levels of sulfur. There is no need to sample every year, unless you are able to rapidly increase organic matter levels rapidly, as you simply determine your average yield, how much sulfur it takes, and then fertilize with that amount.
• The other major problem with lots of data is simply how to put it together, analyze it, and develop a management plan from it. A producer may have the time and expertise to do just that. But often the volume of data is overwhelming and it pays to have a professional do just that.
• Finally, before contracting services to do what we have mentioned, make sure it’s clear who owns the data.
Dr. Victor L. Martin is the agriculture instructor/coordinator for Barton Community College. He can be reached at 620-792-9207, ext. 207, or martinv@bartonccc.edu.
