| Newsletter | [back to index] |
| Vol. 1 No. 5 | Friday, September 1, 2000 |
Dear members and potential members,
The Precision Agriculture Research Association (PARA) idea originated with a group of producers who had been working in the realm of site-specific farming issues. Many of these producers had projects with MSU faculty. With support from MSU staff and UMAC (Upper Midwest Aerospace Consortium), PARA was established in January 1997 as a non-profit organization, producer-driven, with the goal of sharing and helping each other accomplish various GPS/GIS tasks. In the fall of 1998, Chuck Merja was successful in getting a group of producers together to begin sharing ideas and needs. The group decided to take the concept of PARA, which was already in place, and become active.*
Since that time, several producers, faculty and students have evolved into a learning group. The learning group conducts on-farm, field-scale research. This group decided they needed capabilities for sharing data using similar software, especially for analysis and map making. The GIS package picked by the learning group is SSToolbox (SST). The group recently began its second year working with SST. Currently, the learning group is also participating in research to determine whether remote sensing images (downloaded using a DirecPC satellite dish) can assist management decisions. Even if you do not have DirecPC, you can download weekly remote sensing images of vegetation from (http://www.umac.org/farming/ndvi.html). If you would like more information about how to view these images using free software from ESRI, as well as where you can get Montana data for free, contact Chris Erlien (cerlien@montana.edu).
The PARA site can be found at http://www.montana.edu/places/para. There are back issues of the newsletter posted, as well as links to other sites, information on the officers and directors, and more. Please contact Chris Erlien if you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for additions to the site.
*Membership Information can be found on page 4 of this newsletter.
PARA and the learning group are major participants in the direction of MSU precision agriculture research, including research grant proposals. A recent proposal, submitted May 21 to USDA entitled "Consortium for Land and Crop Health" involves MSU as well as South Dakota State University, University of Minnesota, and University of Georgia. The objectives of the proposal include 1) evaluating whether precision agricultural practices reduce runoff and leaching losses of fertilizer and pesticides to surface and ground waters, 2) enhancing management decisions using geographic information systems (GIS), remote sensing, yield prediction and crop input decision support tools, 3) developing curricula and materials for precision agriculture education and outreach and expedite transfer of knowledge to practice in multiple farmer-run "learning groups" in each region, and 4) assessing the spatial adoption trends of precision agriculture with regard to social, policy and environmental implications. If funded, this grant would bring $555,000 for precision agriculture research to Montana over a 3-year period. We have not yet heard whether this proposal has been funded.
Several PARA members (MSU faculty and NRCS associates) are pursuing methods of creating better, faster, cheaper soil information systems (soil attribute maps) to serve precision agriculture, providing data for models that predict crop yield, crop quality and soil carbon sequestration.
Producers interested in forming new learning groups that focus on either range management or irrigation agriculture should contact Chris Erlien (cerlien@montana.edu; 406-994-6034).
Meetings are generally scheduled for the third Wednesday of each month, with the location moving around the state. With spring wheat harvest coming to a close, and winter wheat planting set to start, the first fall meeting will be on October 18, 2000 beginning at 9:00 a.m. in Great Falls, downstairs in the Wheat Building.
Attendants are encouraged to share successes and failures during the crop year and bring along any morale boosters that might help us (that need to) forget crop year 2000. Discussion will be held on images, comparing a few different sources of images and their different resolutions. Bring ideas, projects, goals, etc. for the group to look into for the upcoming year.
Other Matters of Note
NASA funds available
The National Aeronautic and Space Administration (NASA) has a made funds
available for initiating University programs that assist end users (like
yourselves) with acquisition of remote sensing and spatial data analysis. NASA
will provide $200,000 per year for 3 years. The state must provide support
thereafter. Some NASA administrators are already interested in PARA-related
activities in Montana. If you think such a program could be a good investment
for MSU, send a note to the Land Resources and Environmental Sciences Department
Head, Jeff Jacobsen.
Jeff Jacobsen
Montana State University
Land Resources & Environmental Sciences
PO Box 173120334
Leon Johnson Hall
Bozeman, MT 59717-3120
ICASA (International Consortium for Agricultural Systems Applications) News
http://www.icasanet.org/news/vol5/index.html
Jerry Nielsen wanted to share a piece from a publication called ICASA News.
Johan Bouma, a famous Dutch soil scientist, wrote a piece on precision
agriculture and nitrogen fertility research.
Soil Conductivity
An article written in Dealer Progress, March 1999, discussed the information
that conductivity can offer about soil characteristics. The technique requires
that electrical current is sent through the soil; the result helps determine
physical and chemical properties. Research on conductivity is being pursued by
Newell Kitchen of the University of Missouri (email: KitchenN@missouri.edu). He
states that soil electrical conductivity does stay relatively stable throughout
the year, but it may be affected by salinity, compaction, clay type, moisture,
temperature, and topsoil depth. Soil conductivity can be measured using tools
from Veris Technologies (http://www.veristech.com).
Objectives of a current University of Missouri project entitled, "An Economic Analysis of EC and Weather Data on Variable-Rate Nitrogen Applications" include determining the economic value of soil electrical conductivity (EC) information when used to facilitate variable-rate nitrogen applications. Historical weather data will be used to enhance the value of maps generated from EC measures. If you are interested in learning more, contact: Ray Massey (masseyr@missouri.edu) or Joe Parcell (ParcellJ@missouri.edu) - Agricultural Economics Extension and Glenn Davis (DavisJG@missouri.edu) - Precision Agriculture Specialist. This research group is part of the Missouri Precision Agriculture Center (http://www.fse.missouri.edu/mpac/)
Agronomy Notes
Jim Bauder’s weekly publication, on a variety of agriculture related
topics, is available on the Web
http://scarab.msu.montana.edu/agnotes/category_toc.htm
Ag Link newsletter
Periodical newsletter designed to keep the College of Agriculture alumni and
friends informed of important issues and events in agricultural research and
education.
http://www.montana.edu/agriculture/College/Development/aglink.htm
Membership to the PARA organization is open to the public. Presently, members include producers, ag industry, and university academia. It is felt we can learn from each other no matter what our experience has been in site-specific farming. Anyone wondering if PARA is an organization that can provide something to them in their pursuit of precision farming are welcome to attend a meeting and then make a commitment. PARA’s annual dues are $100 per representative per year. The new year began January 1, 2000.
Those wishing to submit their dues, please supply the following information:
Name
Organization
Address: Street, Town, State, Zip Code
Telephone number, e-mail address
Also include a check or money order for $100 made payable to PARA and mail to either of the addresses below:
| PARA | Bruce Wright, PARA Secretary/Treasurer |
| P.O. Box 5326 | PO Box 664 |
| Bozeman, MT 59717 | Belgrade, MT 59714 |
For membership or other information: Contact: Bruce Wright at osmose@aol.com or Chris Erlien at cerlien@montana.edu