FARMERS EDGE INTRODUCES CORN MANAGER.

Corn Manager, the latest addition to the Farmers Edge farm management platform Farm Command, equips growers with tools for tracking corn growth, planning nitrogen applications, and visualizing overall crop health and variability.

“Efficient, fast, and exceedingly easy to use, Corn Manager represents a major breakthrough for the industry as it transitions from precision agriculture to decision agriculture,” says Dr. Solomon Folle, senior cropping system modeler at Farmers Edge. “Tapping into real-time, field-centric data monitored at a finer spatial scale than ever before, this new toolset optimizes nitrogen application rates on a zone-by-zone basis. Built on a foundation of in-depth research and extensive trials, Corn Manager truly is the most comprehensive corn management system available today.”

One interface = three tools
Corn Manager includes three primary components – nitrogen, staging, and imagery.

1. Nitrogen. Although it is one of the most important nutrients for corn production, nitrogen is still the most difficult for many growers to manage. Because this input is driven by field-centric variables, the nitrogen tool incorporates weather information from on-farm weather stations and precision, zone-based soil sampling test results and includes daily plus on-demand updates.
This tool has been tested under a wide variety of management scenarios, including a multiyear study at Iowa State University.

2. Staging. Also driven by field-centric data, the staging tool monitors and forecasts crop development to identify key growth stages. Growers can then better manage the day-to-day logistical activities that determine their farms’ overall profitability, such as application timing, scouting, and equipment deployment.

3. Imagery. Aggregating remotely-sensed data from up to four different sources, the imagery tool offers high-frequency, NDVI-derived crop imagery.

This imagery enables crop health maps and field variability maps. Crop health maps provide a consistent view of the fields through time, allowing growers to track the progress of the crops. Field variability maps illustrate the major locations of variability across a field then identify subtle differences to pinpoint unique areas that may require further investigation. BY LAURIE BEDORD.