GreenSeeker® Variable Rate Application System Promises Farmers Increased
Yields and Profits with Less Environmental
Impacts
GreenSeeker® variable
rate application system
mounted on spray rig.
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Wheat farmers can expect to add $10-
$12 per acre to the bottom line with
NTech Industries, Inc.'s new computerized
GreenSeeker® variable rate application
system.
"The GreenSeeker® was used to top
dress 10 fields, from 90 to 160 acres,
including two co-op fields," said Kenneth
Failes, agronomist for the 200-
member Burlington Co-op in Burlington,
Oklahoma. "We saw increased
yields of four and nine bushels in our
fields. That means a signifi cant return
in dollars to the farmer. I think there
defi nitely is a place for GreenSeeker®
in wheat growing country." The technology
is now being readied for use in
cotton, barley, corn and soybean fields.
Developed in a joint venture with
Oklahoma State University (OSU),
the system uses a sophisticated optical
sensor and microprocessor-driven
spray system that analyzes plant needs
and delivers the optimal amount of
fertilizer, on a two-foot-square basis,
in real time without GPS or field mapping.
Current precision agricultural
spray systems involve time-consuming
GPS-guided, acre-by-acre field mapping
and wasteful broadcast spraying.
John Mayfield, President of NTech
states, "GreenSeeker® sensors give
plants a physical, write a prescription
and deliver the optimal amount
of fertilizer as the spray rig travels
across the field. It delivers less where
less is needed and more where more is
needed to realize full crop yield potential."
"Conventional inputs of nitrogen
based on yield goals (historical averages)
have been a 'good' guide for
farmers to use in planning fertilizer
rates," explained Gordon Johnson,
Ph.D., Regents Professor and nutrient
management specialist in the division
of agriculture at Oklahoma State
University. "However, this approach,
on average, results in two-thirds of the
fertilizer being lost to the environment
from the soil-plant system. Only onethird
is accounted for in the harvested
crop."
"NTech's GreenSeeker® technology
will increase nitrogen use effi ciency by
about 80 to 90 per cent, reducing the
amount lost to the environment from
current fi gures of 65 per cent to only
10 to 20 per cent," said Johnson. "This
is truly a remarkable achievement and
could potentially eliminate the hypoxia
problem in the Gulf of Mexico over a
few years time."
Since the optical sensor uses artifi cial
light, the variable rate system works for
both day and night spraying. Using it
at night will reduce fertilizer volatility and wind drift.
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The GreenSeeker® and WeedSeeker®
will be on exhibit at the following
shows. Stop in and visit us.
January 2003
January 6 - 9th
Topeka Farm Show, Topeka, Kansas
January 8 - 9th
Corpus Christi Farm and Ranch Show,
Corpus Christi, Texas
January 10th - 11th
ENID Agrifest, Enid, OK
January 14 - 16th
Fargo Farm Show, Fargo, IN
January 28 - 30th
Unifi ed Wine and Grape Symposium
Sacramento, CA
February 2003
February 11 - 13th
World Ag Expo, Tulare, CA
February 20 - 22th
Viticultre 2003
Buffalo Convention Center, NY
February 22 - 24th
Western Farm Show, Kansas City, MO
February 28 - March 1st
Mid-South Farm & Gin Supply Exhibition
Memphis, TN
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