Variable-rate fertilizer (VRF) application has caught the interest of a lot of farmers over the past 15 years. However, the level of adoption of VRF has been slower than expected.
A Fertilizer Canada survey of canola farmers in Western Canada in the fall of 2021 found only 10.2 per cent of growers used VRF application in each of their fields, while another 4.3 per cent used it on a portion of their canola fields, for a total of 14.5 per cent. A survey of western Canadian wheat farmers found that 10.5 per cent used VRF application in each of their fields and 4.2 per cent used VRF application in some of their wheat fields for a total of 14.7 per cent.
In 2021, the percentage of canola growers using VRF on all of their fields was down slightly from 11.8 per cent in 2020 and 12.2 per cent of growers in 2017. The 2021 percentage of wheat growers using VRF on all of their wheat fields was the same as it was in 2016.
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From the 2021 Fertilizer Canada survey, less than 15 per cent of Prairie farmers are utilizing VRF technology on some or all of their wheat and canola fields. With the promotion of VRF over the past 15 years, I had expected a higher rate of adoption.
Why the slow adoption rate?
There is a wide range of opinions from farmers as to why they have not been in a hurry to adopt VRF technology, which include the following:
- Some growers have used VRF on a trial basis and felt it did not provide benefits for their farms, or they had negative experiences with it.
- Shifting to VRF technology is viewed as a big commitment involving additional time and effort to make it work. Some growers are not prepared to make that commitment to learning.
- Adoption of VRF technology is seen as quite costly. Some wonder and question if the investment would provide economic benefits.
- There is variation among companies of the services they provide and the costs, making it a challenge for farmers to decide which company might provide the best overall service and information.
- Each precision company has its own system to develop soil/crop management zones. Farmers are unsure which companies might provide more accurate soil/crop management zone maps.
- Each precision company has its own philosophy on how to develop fertilizer recommendations for the various soil/crop management zones.
- VRF technology is complex and is constantly changing, making it a challenge for farmers to keep current and up to date.
- There is concern about the lack of technically knowledgeable precision providers.
- Some older farmers are reluctant to adopt new, complex technology.
What are the potential benefits?
An interesting observation of the 2021 Fertilizer Canada survey is 63 per cent of wheat growers and almost 66 per cent of canola growers indicated they used the same fertilizer program on all of their wheat and canola fields, respectively. This suggests considerable opportunities for farmers to shift to more precise 4R (right rate, right product, right time, right placement) fertilizer management on individual fields. The adoption of VRF on fields with variable soils and topography should be a serious consideration. Some reasons to consider adoption of VRF technology include the following:
- Optimize crop yield by applying the right fertilizer type and optimum fertilizer rate on each unique soil type in a field.
- Fertilizer use efficiency can be increased on fields with variable soils.
- With the high cost of fertilizers, rates can be wisely applied in each soil management zone where a nutrient deficiency is identified.
- In some (but not usually all) soil management zones, crop yield can be increased with optimized nutrient application.
- In some soil management zones, fertilizer inputs can be reduced or even eliminated based on soil tests.
- With optimized fertilizer inputs and 4R fertilizer management, soil quality and health can be improved, including increased carbon storage (increased soil organic matter content) and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
- The federal government’s On-Farm Climate Action Fund provides financial support to producers to accelerate adoption of beneficial management practices such as 4R fertilizer management and VRF technology for more sustainable farm practices.
Startup VRF technology tips
If you haven’t tried using VRF technology, below you’ll find a few things to consider as you get started:
- For your first year, select three or four fields you know have variable soil and/or topography.
- Interview two or three precision ag companies that work in your area. Develop a set of interview questions to compare companies’ knowledge, services and costs. Get detailed information on the following topics:
- What services are provided?
- Does the agronomist have a professional agrologist (PAg) or certified crop advisor (CCA) designation with 4R training? If not, that is a concern.
- Ask the agronomist if they have completed university courses on topics such as soil fertility and fertilizers, and soil classification and mapping. If they have not, that is a concern.
- What historical information will they use when working with you?
- How will they develop topography maps, electrical conductivity maps and other soil characteristic maps and use historical information to develop soil/crop management zones?
- How many soil management zones would they typically delineate in your fields?
- How will they do ground truthing to confirm accuracy of soil/crop management zone maps?
- How will soil samples be taken? Where will they be taken? And, how many will be taken per soil management zone?
- Will they GPS locate soil sampling sites?
- Which lab will do the soil analysis?
- How will soil analysis be interpreted for each nutrient and other soil characteristics?
- How will fertilizer recommendations be developed for each zone?
- How will they assist with adapting or modifying your field equipment to variable-rate apply fertilizers?
- Will field monitoring be conducted during the growing season?
- Is weather information data or a weather station provided?
- How and what data will they collect and manage? How will they assist you on data interpretation?
- Do they work with any neighbours you know? If the answer is yes, ask neighbours for opinions and references on the services provided.
- Be clear on the services each provider will offer, along with costs.
- In the first year or two, try to keep things easy, simple and straightforward to avoid becoming overwhelmed.
- At the end of each season, make sure to have a debrief session with your precision agronomist to review what worked and where changes or improvements are needed. Make sure to learn from your experiences each season to make the following year more successful.
Variable-rate technology can be complex. Take time to learn about and become as familiar as possible with the technology. The more you understand, the easier it becomes to work with VRF technology and to make it work successfully for you.
