 |
Press Release
April 14, 2005
| |
Related Contact:
Bruce Lewis
1-707-964-3844
|
| 
|
| |
|
|
GreenSeeker Corn Trials Show Boost in Profit Through Improvement in Nitrogen Use Efficiency
Ukiah, Calif. - In a series of field trials, Midwest corn farmers have produced an average increase in gross profit of $18.26 per acre by using optical sensor technology to guide the application of nitrogen.
Tests of the optical sensor sold under the brand name GreenSeeker were
conducted last year on seven Iowa cornfields totaling 800 acres and two additional cornfields in Illinois and Minnesota.
The nine farmers recorded an average 34.7 pound per acre decrease in nitrogen fertilizer use, from 180 to 145.3 pounds per acre, using the GreenSeeker RT200 Variable Rate Application and Mapping System. GreenSeeker is the result of more than a dozen years research and development by engineers and agronomists at the Oklahoma State University.
Corn field trials designer Jerry Hatfield, director of the National Soil Tilth Laboratory in Ames, said farmers used less fertilizer with the GreenSeeker
to produce the same or better yields. "In some cases, the farmers had improved
yields and in some cases they didn't," Hatfield said. "But in all cases using the GreenSeeker reduced the use of nitrogen and improved the efficiency of the nitrogen that was used."
While field trial revenue gains resulted primarily from nitrogen use reductions, yield (on average) also increased, from 190.1 to 193 bushels per acre.
Ted Mayfield, chief operating officer of GreenSeeker manufacturer NTech Industries in Ukiah, California, said nitrogen use was reduced 58 per cent on one 77-acre plot in Illinois, increasing the growers profit more than $40 per acre over conventional practices for that year. Mayfield added "the important point is using nitrogen more efficiently, at a rate that gives the farmer the best return on their input dollars. When GreenSeeker was used in wheat last year, some farmers were not putting enough nitrogen for that year, and GreenSeeker help determine the best economic rate. Not just less, but the correct amount the crop needs."
Corn field trial results were based on a $2 per bushel corn price and a cost of $.40 per pound of side dressed nitrogen.
GreenSeeker is an optical sensor that emits and captures red and near infrared light that measure the color and health of crop plants, then delivers the precise amount of fertilizer needed for maximum yield. The system works equally well day or night when reduced wind drift eliminates over spraying.
Colonial Soil and Water Conservation District will use GreenSeeker technology in 2005 to demonstrate the potential environmental benefits to the Chesapeake Bay from improvements in nitrogen use efficiency and reductions in nitrogen runoff.
About NTech
NTech Industries, headquartered in Ukiah, California, is the world leader in optical sensors for agricultural research, precision fertilizer applications, field mapping, and weed and pest control for military and civilian uses. NTech products represent break-through technology with important revenue generation and environmental benefits. In 2002, USDA Secretary Ann M. Veneman hailed GreenSeeker "the most revolutionary method for fertilizing crops in a century." and presented her Secretary's Award to the GreenSeeker development team at Oklahoma State University (OSU). The device is manufactured by NTech Industries in Ukiah, California. Information on the company and its products are available on the Internet at www.ntechindustries.com.
In the News (Media Index)
|
|
|
|
|
