Precision ag pays for itself this season as fertiliser prices stay up

Precision farming is “paying for itself” this season with high fertiliser prices, farmers say. See how they’re capitalising with the new tech.

Farmers say precision agriculture is “coming into its own” this year as input prices skyrocket.

Agronomist and mixed farmer Charles Edmonston, who has planted 350ha of canola, 300ha of wheat and 50ha of faba beans on his property at Addington, near Ballarat, said precision agronomy is “really paying for itself” on his property this season given current high fertiliser prices.

Mr Edmonston has been “dipping his toe in the water” of varied rate input applications during the past few years, but said this year it is making more sense than ever.

Precision agriculture is “paying for itself” this season as fertiliser prices skyrocket, says agronomist and mixed farmer Charles Edmonston.

“We depend heavily on (varied rate input applications) now. It’s going to be the future of farming,” Mr Edmonston said.

With precision farming, Mr Edmonston said he can divide his crops into grids of two hectares each, and can measure soil and apply inputs individually.

“You can be a lot more precise.

“Instead of just blanketing 150kg of urea in a paddock, you might end up putting on an average of, say, 80kg. Some of those paddocks might need 150kg and some might need none.

“When you’re paying $1300 a tonne for fertiliser and urea, it adds up,” he said.

And Mr Edmonston isn’t the only one looking to precision agriculture to get the most of his inputs this season.

Farmer and precision agriculture consultant Jessica Koch said her services were in high demand this year.

“The demand has definitely gone up significantly for map processing,” Ms Koch said.

“People are getting their mapping organised and ready for the season so that they can be a little more strategic with their inputs.”

For example, the Topsoil Mapper is a precision agriculture soil sensor using EMI (electromagnetic induction) to create soil maps and performance zones autonomously.

While it wasn’t always possible to reduce inputs, they could be strategically “redistributed” to get the most out of them, she said.

“Farmers can really kick some goals by managing their inputs spatially,” she said.

Ms Koch said farmers should do their own calculations based on strip trials to find out whether variable rate input applications would work on their property.

In her experience, farmers could make the biggest gains by testing nitrogen levels in the soil later in the season when they had some certainty around subsoil moisture levels, she said.

The Australian Society of Precision Agriculture is running 12 workshops on variable rate precision agriculture this year.