Ag Tech and Research News

Six Reasons to Use Variable Rate Technology

Do you use Variable Rate Technology? Here are 6 reasons you should try Farmers Edge this year.

20 May 2022, CA: Variable Rate Technology (VRT) has been around for many years, and farmers continually find reasons to use it. Today’s VRT employs field-centric data to provide precise insights which can guide farmers to profitable and productive decisions. Knowing when to take action can be as important as knowing what action to take and what to take action on. Farmers Edge provides a comprehensive fertility program to support data-driven insights in six key areas. Those key areas bring together productivity, sustainability, and profitability.

1. Higher Yields

Developing the right agronomic plan leads to lower input use (and cost) and increased yields. We work alongside you and your trusted advisors to understand your unique yield and profitability goals to develop the right plan for your operation. Feeding the crop where it needs it most saves money, improves yields, and is simply more sustainable.

2. Less Lodging

Over-application of nutrients can lead to yield-impacting lodging that also reduces the effectiveness of your harvest strategies. Understanding where your paddocks are most vulnerable to lodging and mitigating it with seeding and nutrient rate adjustments will pay off at harvest.

3. Protects the Soil

Knowing your soil means you can better protect it, and Farmers Edge gives you the information you need to make smart decisions. You can prioritize your soil without compromising your yield goals through nutrient management and in-season prescriptions.

4. More Even Maturity

Crop staging starts with your crop plan and seeding strategy. Feeding your soil with the right nutrients in the right places gives you an edge on harvest staging with more even maturity, including in variable conditions and zones.

5. Optimized Input Use and Costs

Grow more with less and strike a winning strategy. Using VRT as your fertility solution helps you optimize nitrogen use while maintaining or increasing yields.

6. Environmental Traceability

Farming sustainably is planting for the future, and it’s also critical to protecting your bottom line. Using Farmers Edge, you can leverage data from your farm to verify your environmental footprint and prove that your practices are sustainable.

Farmers can utilize VRT as a tool to combat input shortages and optimize costs. Find out about cost-effective soil sampling and VRT solutions from Farmers Edge for your farm here.

See our Variable Rate Technology in action

Mack Warren described the deployment process as “very easy for the user” as Farmers Edge physically mapped the fields, created the soil zones, and performed the soil sampling. “They gave us a recipe to grow these really high yields that other producers were growing that we couldn’t seem to achieve. We’ve been at 40 bushels of durum per acre consistently. N