March 12, 2025 • 31 mins
Kurt Turner and Lane Bothwell from Ag Genesis share their innovative "gridding the zone" approach that combines traditional zone mapping with targeted grid sampling to address pH variability in eastern South Dakota fields. They've discovered that their most productive field zones often hide significant pH problems that can be economically addressed through this hybrid sampling method.
• Field topography in Eastern South Dakota creates extreme yield variability (corn yields ranging 100-240 bushels per acre)
• Traditional zone sampling works well for most nutrient management in their variable landscape
• Low pH problems tend cluster in high-productivity zones, not poor-performing areas as might be expected (this is not always the case, check your soil test results!)
• Selective grid sampling within problematic zones can reduce sampling points by 60-70% compared to whole-field gridding
• Lime application becomes more economical when precisely targeted to actual problem areas
• Cost savings benefit both the service provider (fewer samples to collect) and the farmer (less lime needed)
• Limited lime sources in the Dakotas make efficient application especially important
• pH improvements are visible within 2-4 years of targeted lime application
If you're interested in learning more about Ag Genesis, check out our previous episode where we dive deeper into their business model and precision ag philosophy.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Sarah (00:00):
And now it's time for a Geek Speak with GK Technology's,
Sarah and Jodi, friends and Ican't wait to get in the fields
again.
No, I can't wait to get in thefields again.
Welcome back to Ag Geek Speak.
(00:34):
We are excited to have ourfriends Kurt Turner and Lane
Bothwell from Ag Genesis down inthe Brookings South Dakota area
and we had a great conversationlast time with them.
If you want to learn a littlebit more about the Ag Genesis
business, I suggest going backand listening to that episode.
We talked a lot about how Kurtreally does a lot of the mapping
(00:56):
in the office and Lane isactually the guy that does a lot
of the stuff out in the fielddoing the ground truthing.
It's really an interestingbusiness where you've got that
aspect of people really doingthe things that they really
enjoy the most and it brings outtheir best characteristics to
add to the precision agriculturebusiness that they've got going
.
On this episode we are going totalk about gridding the zone.
(01:19):
Kurt and Lane are doingsomething that's kind of unique.
I know I've given a lot ofpresentations on where do grids
fit and where do zones fit andit seems like most of the time
in normal precision agriculturewe're doing either or either
grids or zones, but not anaspect where we would do both.
So we're going to just dive inand have a little bit of a
(01:41):
conversation about that today.
First of all, to get thingsstarted and just to kind of give
a little bit of a conversationabout that today.
First of all, to get thingsstarted and just to kind of give
a little bit of reference towhere you are and how things are
kind of done in your area.
I think it's a good question toask what crops are you raising?
Kurt Turner (01:55):
Oh, we're mostly corn and soybeans.
There's a little bit of alfalfavery little, but some small
grains and then some some foragecrops.
So but it's, it's 90 percent,90 to 95 percent corn and
soybeans.
Jodi (02:12):
Yeah and is uh, is there some silage corn in that too,
and like is the alfalfa ordairies yes okay, yep, so you're
very I-state.
It sounds very I-state or likevery Minnesotan of a crop mix.
Kurt Turner (02:29):
Yeah, I would say yeah, we have.
Our cropping system probablyhas more in common with
Minnesota than it does the restof South Dakota, but our ground
is probably more common to therest of South Dakota than it is
Minnesota more common to therest of South Dakota than it is
Minnesota.
Sarah (02:48):
So explain that a little bit.
Because obviously when we'reworking with precision
agriculture, we're trying toaddress the variability of our
landscape and how we can raisedifferent crops within that
variability.
So explain to me when you'retalking about how your ground
sort of works maybe is moresimilar to South Dakota, if you
were going to describe yourground there, how would you
describe it?
Kurt Turner (03:09):
Most of our soils are very good soils here but we
do have rolling ground and wehave some clay hillsides and
clay knobs and gravel knobs andwe have bottoms that are wet.
So we probably have a morepercentage of poor ground what I
would say poor to moderate typeground in our fields, like most
(03:34):
of South Dakota does, than saywhen you go into some of the
areas of Minnesota, Iowa, where95% of the field is very good
soils.
So our soils are more similar.
We have some of theproductivity soil productivity
capacity that the high stateshave in our fields, but we also
(03:59):
have more poor ground in ourfields.
Jodi (04:03):
So it sounds very much like the prairie pothole region
where you've got glacialfeatures.
Lane Bothwell (04:10):
Topography really is the driver, I think, between
the good productive areas ofthe field, which again, I think
I can confidently say that wecan grow crops you know that are
southern Minnesota, iowa typecrop, I mean very good yields.
But then with topography comeslow wet bottoms and hilltops
(04:36):
that then can show some fairlypoor productivity zones.
So we have the potential in alot of areas, but with the
topography that we have in a lotof our fields there are going
to be some lower productivityareas.
Kurt Turner (04:50):
So a typical map for us for corn yield we will
run a low of, let's say, 130 onyield, 130 bushel, up to 230 to
240 on the high end.
So that's a lot of variabilityand we have some fields where we
have the bottoms at 100 bushels.
So yeah, it's a lot ofvariability.
Jodi (05:12):
That's really interesting and thinking about variability
and like your specific croppingsystem.
So you're in eastern SouthDakota, you are in a corn and
soybean system.
You are in dairy country, whichmeans there's manure
applications, but you also havea lot of topography.
You are in a corn and soybeansystem.
You are in dairy country, whichmeans there's manure
applications, but you also havea lot of topography.
You are in like the prime mixof gridding or zone mapping for
(05:33):
your fields.
Do you have any fields that arefully gridded, or what would
you say your mixes is of likefull grid versus zones.
Because the reason I bring thatup when I think about manure
application, that is a man-madeintroduction of fertility and so
the landscape is no longerdriving the soil fertility on
that, you've got how much manureyou've placed over there over
(05:54):
time as being your driver.
So, yeah, what does that mixlook like for you guys?
Grids versus zones?
Kurt Turner (06:01):
I would say we're 99% zones.
There's a few fields that weshould grid and those are fields
that are behind the barn, kindof fields, where the manure
spreader goes out and they justhead out behind the barn and
when they're empty they turnaround and go back, so the far
end of the field doesn't get any.
And those are to me, those arefields that are grid candidates.
(06:24):
Otherwise we're mostly zones.
Jodi (06:33):
And I think back to our discussion about landscape, and
I am guessing that's becauseyour yields are so landscape
driven that zones just makesense for you guys to implement
it that way versus grids.
Kurt Turner (06:40):
Yep, yeah, and we have some fields we don't do
variable rate on because they'rereally quite uniform.
So we haven't done any zones onthem because there just isn't
any uniformity, especially whenyou get in some of the soils and
fields around down in the BigSioux Valley there that are
completely flat.
It's all one soil type acrossthe field.
(07:01):
And yeah, some of those wedon't't.
We haven't, we have not zonedout.
Sarah (07:08):
So out of curiosity and those do you usually go back and
soil sample those like flatrate fields in the same place
every every year.
Are you still soil sampling thesame point every year on those?
Kurt Turner (07:22):
Currently we're not doing that.
Originally I was doing that,but we've kind of gotten away
from that.
If we're going to pick upchanges or variability within
the field, that maybe is real, Ithink you would miss that if
you're going to go back and dothe same points all the time.
Lane Bothwell (07:39):
I think, as long as they're not doing major
changes again, let's be gettingback to manure applications.
Everything's quite consistentyear after year after year.
We haven't been going back tothose same points.
I think you know, if you'retaking soil samples consistently
and accurately, regardless ifyou're going back to those same
points on those flat, consistent, non-variable rated fields,
(08:03):
we're going to find somesignificant changes, whether we
go back to those same spots ornot.
Usually they're just veryconsistent, Yep.
Sarah (08:13):
Yep, I think that's an important thing for the audience
to know as well, because I haverun into that myself right here
in the Red River Valley aroundHalstead and in Hillsborough.
It is flat, we have the samesoil type for miles and it just
there are times and places whereI've seen it appropriate to
make zones in these areas,especially for places where
(08:34):
maybe the surface drainagehasn't always been great and
you've got potholes where thingshave drowned out.
But kind of once you get thatfigured out, it's flat and it
just doesn't change a whole lot.
So that's an interestingconversation too about where is
precision agriculture?
Maybe not always the rightanswer, or zone sampling, or
(08:55):
precision soil sampling, Ishould call it.
So let's ask the question howare you guys gridding the zone?
You've been experimenting withthis and, just from a logistical
standpoint, how are youactually gridding these zones?
Kurt Turner (09:29):
pH.
Those are the zones that we aretrying to grid, and that way we
can get and figure out whereare the pH issues within that
zone that need to be taken careof in the form of lime, and so
for us, right now, it's pHdriven.
Sarah (09:41):
Okay, the purpose, the prime purpose for your gridding
the zone is pH and andremediating acid soils.
You're not using it right nowfor phosphorus or potassium or
anything any other non-mobilenutrient.
Kurt Turner (09:54):
Okay, no, the first ones we have done now, not to
say that we might not do more ofthat in the future, but right
now.
So the ones that we have done.
We just go out and sample forpH and that's all we're doing.
And then from there we build aLIME application variable
(10:14):
application map based on whatthe pHs are within the grids in
that zone.
So, for example, if you have afield that has a green, yellow,
red zone, right, you got threeproductivity zones.
I think, as I look back at someof last fall's samples, some of
(10:34):
the problem zones have beengreen zones, some yellow, but
there's more green zones thanyellow zones from what I have
seen.
So we would set up grids withinthat green zone and then we
would sample those grids andthen, based on our pH, build a
lime application map based onthat.
Sarah (10:57):
And Kurt, just to ask, your green zones are usually
indicative of a highproductivity area, then yes,
they are yes.
And so you're actually seeingthese issues in your area and
the high productivity areas.
Kurt Turner (11:09):
Some in the yellows too, but more I would say.
It's been about two-thirdsgreen, one-third yellow.
Sarah (11:17):
Interesting.
Jodi (11:18):
Which makes sense, because when I think about your areas,
so like your red zones, like wewere talking about in the
previous episode and thisepisode too, your red zone seems
to be either your gravelhilltops or maybe around your
sloughs Is that right?
Or like what are?
Your red zones, typically inyour area.
Kurt Turner (11:34):
Yeah, that's typically where our red zones
are and those are typicallyhigher in pH.
Okay, yep, and those aretypically higher in pH, so okay.
Jodi (11:42):
Yep, and thinking about like pH, right.
So if we think about like agravel hilltop and this is not
the case for every single soil,but typically when we think
about the prairie profile,you've got like an A horizon,
your nice beautiful dark organicmatter level, and you've got
like a BK horizon, which isagain very common in prairie
(12:03):
regions.
But that BK horizon, that nextlevel down, typically has an
accumulation of calciumcarbonate and so on our hilltops
.
Typically, you know it's anarea of really high erosion,
that A layer is probably goneand we might be hitting a higher
level of calcium carbonate andprobably getting higher pHs on
those hilltops.
Again, that's not always thecase, right, hilltops can be
(12:25):
made of clay, like we'vementioned before, and also sand
too.
That's really interesting inyour area that those highest
productivity zones are whereyou're seeing the lower pH.
There are stories in NorthDakota too, where that's the
case, where the higherproductivity areas are really
where we're starting to see someof these low pH soils.
Kurt Turner (12:42):
first, yeah, we had a case where we had we actually
had a.
It was a fairly it was a fairlynew client for us and they had
a.
We gridded the green zone butthere was an area down in the in
the corner of the field that itwas very poor productivity and
it didn't really make sense froma topography standpoint why
(13:07):
that area was so pure.
So we did actually sample thatfor pH 2, and it turned out to
be the lowest pH of all thegrids.
And so sometimes it's not justwell, we're just going to do the
green.
In this case we did that redspot too, because it just didn't
make any other sense why it waspoor productivity.
(13:29):
But it was as we suspect.
We suspect that the poorproductivity was because of the
pH.
So that zone, if they get itlimed and I don't believe it's
been done yet, but in that casethat area may turn into a yellow
zone or a green zone if we getthe pH correct.
Sarah (13:54):
So a guy has to use their brain a little bit too on this
stuff.
So when you run a zone sampleand you get your soil test back
by the zone, do you have a pHthat you're kind of looking at
for the whole zone to try todecide?
If yeah, I should really thinkabout gridding that particular
zone.
Kurt Turner (14:11):
Yeah, four below six.
Four below six pH Yep, okayyeah.
Jodi (14:17):
And when you're putting your grids together.
What size are you typicallyputting your grids?
Does it depend on how big thezone is?
How are you approaching that?
Sarah (14:26):
Or how many soil samples Lane actually wants to pull that
day.
Kurt Turner (14:30):
Yeah, so I call Lane and I say how busy are you
anyway?
But as the ones we've done sofar, I've tried to try to fit
the grids into the areas and sothey have been in that three to
yeah, I'd say, an average ofthree to three and a quarter
(14:51):
acres grids is what they've been, just kind of trying to fit
them in now, not saying that'show we're going to keep doing it
, because we're still trying tolearn too.
Not saying that's how we'regoing to keep doing it, because
we're still trying to learn too.
Jodi (15:03):
So, yep, I'm really curious, like with the fields
that you have gridded so far,how variable have those grid pH
levels been?
Has it been pretty variable foreach of those, or has each grid
kind of come back to the samelevel?
Kurt Turner (15:16):
What are you seeing with that?
Well, I would say that in thecases we've done, we're probably
averaging half of the grids arelow in pH and some are high.
I mean, I've seen some that are, you know, 7 on pH in that same
zone yeah, in that same zone.
So they have ranged from, Ithink, 5.4 up to 7 in the zone.
(15:44):
So there's a lot of variabilitythere.
Jodi (15:46):
Yeah, that's always.
It's so hard to think about.
Okay, when you're looking at asoil test result like that is,
you're trying to collect anaverage for the area that you're
covering and, yeah, it'simportant to remember.
You know, an average there'stypically, or a median, there's
half the data that's above thatpoint and half the data that's
below.
Kurt Turner (16:05):
Right, exactly.
Jodi (16:07):
Yeah, when we're looking at an average, we're not seeing
the whole picture of what thatvalue might be in that area.
Kurt Turner (16:14):
Right.
Jodi (16:14):
And for some areas, like you know, where the soil is the
same type across the whole field, then that median or that
average might actually representa big majority of that field.
Lane Bothwell (16:24):
Right no that's.
Kurt Turner (16:24):
That's really interesting to hear you know
what your results are and whatyou're seeing with that and
digging deeper into thatvariability within your field
and I have found that to me,this, this I think it helps to
justify a little bit about whatwe're doing, in that when we
find the pH areas that are low,they kind of tend to be
clustered and near each other,next to each other.
(16:47):
So I don't know, it gives me alittle more confidence, I guess,
in what we're doing, yep.
Jodi (16:53):
It's not like you have like a 40-acre zone and you go
out and it's checkerboardedacross that they're all low in
pH or like every other one islow in pH.
You find like clusters of wherethis whole 10 acre spot in the
middle is low pH and the otherareas around it aren't.
Kurt Turner (17:10):
Right.
Jodi (17:10):
And you find it in clusters, not just randomly
across that zone.
Kurt Turner (17:13):
Correct yeah.
Sarah (17:16):
How small when you've been making your variable rate
Lyme prescriptions?
When you've been making yourvariable rate Lyme prescriptions
, what are some of the smaller,lower pH areas that you've tried
to address?
From a variable rate, Somezones can get to be pretty big,
right?
I mean, I've had 40-acre zonesor 80-acre zones, even if I'm on
a half section, Right.
Kurt Turner (17:47):
How small?
Are you able to identify thoselow pH areas and get a
successful prescription to workto address those smaller areas
within the zone?
Well, I think you can probablygo as small as you want, as long
as the applicator knows whereto go.
But I tend to also round themoff.
I mean I tend to expand them alittle bit.
I tend to also round them off.
I mean I tend to expand them alittle bit and then if I got a
cluster of two over here andmaybe I got one over here, I'm
(18:08):
going to put lime in that wholearea and kind of round it out
and square it off for theapplicator.
Lane Bothwell (18:15):
Logistics is probably one of the biggest
factors that maybe comes intolime application.
The biggest challenge I thinkwe have with a lot of our
growers is liming is verydifferent than fertilizer, the
attitude and the way you know.
It's a whole different processand fix right.
So we had to find a way to getour growers to really take
(18:39):
liming and pH seriously, ourgrowers to really take liming
and pH seriously.
And high cost of fixing pH wasnot really a way to do that.
So we had to find a way to, youknow, make it economical as
possible.
So that means less work from us, which means a lower cost from
us, lower acres to cover, whichmeans less application costs and
(19:00):
less lime to be hauled.
And that was, I think, our bestway of trying to get guys to
take this a little bit moreserious, you know, but again,
logistics is the biggest part ofit.
So we tried.
We wanted to have to cover theleast amount of area as possible
with lime, Not just because of,you know, not only did we want
(19:22):
to only cover the areas thatneeded the lime, but we wanted
to make it as economical aspossible as well.
So our goal was to cover theleast amount of areas we could
with lime.
Jodi (19:34):
Absolutely.
I mean, that's why we're havingthis conversation in the
Dakotas now, right is becauseit's expensive.
We don't have the lime quarrieslike they do in Indiana and
Illinois, et cetera.
And speaking of that, I meanwhere are your growers able to
get lime right now?
What are their sources and whathave you seen being applied for
lime?
Kurt Turner (19:53):
They're getting it from the municipal water
treatment plants Brookings andWatertown, brookings and
Watertown.
They can also go to the sugarbeet plant in Renville to get
lime and I think there's a placedown by, there's a company down
by Trent, south Dakota, thatactually has a lime pit and that
(20:15):
they mine it from.
Sarah (20:16):
I didn't know that from.
Kurt Turner (20:24):
I didn't know that.
Yeah, so there's some sourcesaround, but the sources are very
limited, so it's kind of abattle to get it to, because the
municipal water treatmentplants are only doing so much
and beyond that.
If you're hauling it beyondthat, well then it just becomes
so expensive that guys don'twant to do it as it is.
You know, you talk to guysabout liming who've never done
liming before and their eyesjust roll in the back of their
(20:46):
head and they immediately changethe conversation.
How about those jackrabbits?
Sarah (20:57):
Well, you know what I'm going to say to that Kurt.
How about those bison?
Yeah, that's right.
Well, you know what I'm goingto say to that Kurt.
How about those bison?
I'm sorry, I had to get that in?
Kurt Turner (21:09):
Yeah, so anyway, it's a bit of a challenge to get
them interested as well.
So there's different ways guysare applying it.
Some have hired somebody tovariable rate, other guys
they'll haul it themselves.
And I know we had a grower afew years ago that had some
fields Actually there wasmultiple fields, multiple zones.
(21:31):
It was green and yellow in somefields that were low in pH, so
he hauled the lime himself andhe got his manure spreader and
he went out and spread ithimself.
So that's a pretty economicalway of doing it too, and that's
a conversation a person can havewith their clients about the
(21:52):
economics of things.
Sometimes it might be cheaperto spread lime in a larger area
than they need to if they can doit themselves.
And so those are allconversations that we have with
guys, yep.
Jodi (22:06):
So how many years have you guys had Lyme applied in your
customers' fields?
How long has the longest Lymeapplication been since
application?
Kurt Turner (22:19):
Four or five years, I would say.
Jodi (22:22):
And are you seeing improvement in that pH since
application?
Kurt Turner (22:27):
Yeah, there's definitely been some improvement
.
It seems like it takes a coupleyears for that pH to adjust
back, but yep.
Sarah (22:35):
So, logistically, I just have a couple of questions.
So, Kurt, when you're settingthe maps up in ADMS, generally,
when we're merging grid results,you need to have grid points
and you need to have a boundaryof some kind.
Kurt Turner (22:48):
Yep.
Sarah (22:48):
And so are you.
How are you doing that?
Are you actually like takingout the boundary, like creating
contour polygons and then takingthat boundary out or that
polygon out, and then thatbecomes the boundary for you?
Or how are you working that?
Kurt Turner (23:06):
Well, yeah, creating contour polygons based
on the soil testing map, wherewe have the different zones are
actually colorized.
So you end up with well, ofcourse, the way we soil sample
is for nutrients is we use afive zone map, but we only
sample three, and so this is theother thing I guess I'm still
(23:28):
kind of playing with or have towork through.
Do I convert that into a threezone and then make the contour
polygons, and then I've got aboundary right, I've got a
boundary for the yellow zone, sothen from that I create grids.
Sarah (23:45):
That's really fascinating .
So that's the logistics ofmaking that happen.
And then my next logisticalquestion is actually for Lane,
as far as it goes for the actualsoil sampling.
You know, when I've givenpresentations on gridding and
the cost difference and thelabor intensity of gridding
versus zones, it's a pretty bigdifference if you were going to
(24:06):
just grid an entire field.
So, Lane, have you gridded anentire field yourself ever?
Lane Bothwell (24:13):
Have I gridded the whole entire field?
Yes, by myself.
No.
Jodi (24:17):
As podcast listeners, you can't see this, but Kurt is
laughing, and rightfully so.
Sarah (24:21):
I have gridded an entire section by myself.
Before that was, it wasactually in two half sections.
I will say and it's a lot.
It's a lot, it's very laborintensive, and so can you tell
me a little bit about what youthink about the labor and the
cost savings of doing griddingthe zone type situation versus
(24:44):
gridding an entire field toglean the data that you're
looking for glean?
Lane Bothwell (24:47):
the data that you're looking for.
So I guess, on the cost part, Imean of course we're grading a
smaller area and we're you know,which would probably mean we're
taking less samples, whichmeans the cost of that is a lot
lower.
I believe we set it updifferently on how to charge.
Instead of a per acre cost,it's what's it costs us per grid
which then gets passed on tothe grower.
(25:10):
So the less grids we have totake, of course, the less that
it's going to cost to grow.
But as far as labor intensity,again, my attitude towards grids
becomes very different when Iknow the value of the grid that
I'm taking.
So gridding whole fields in ourarea for productivity wise
(25:30):
purposes, my attitude towardsthat would be very poor and I'm
not having a lot of fun.
But knowing I'm going out thereand that I'm gritting a smaller
area and it's for a purposethat I know is going to have
some value to the grower, youknow that makes the day a lot
better and we can get it done alot faster and again, the value
(25:53):
of that is a lot different thangridding the whole field.
We are not set up very well todo grids.
You know we go to do it, do iton a four-wheeler.
You guys know my attitude onthat.
Doing stuff on a four-wheelerearly spring, late fall, that's
not a lot of fun.
That takes time, you know.
And then we're using hydraulicprobes and pickups.
(26:15):
That's not a extremely fastprocess when you're.
There are better ways and waysto set up units with faster
machines, but we're just not setup for it really.
So just being able to have todo less grids, less acres, the
cost of it for our growers andthe logistics on our side, we
(26:36):
can actually get it done and,again, that value that we're
bringing in is worth it.
Kurt Turner (26:42):
You take a typical, let's say, 100 acre field and
you're going to do two and ahalf acre grids.
That's 40 grids, right, and theway we're doing it with kind of
targeting pH, so if I grid theyellow zone I may only do 12 to
15 grids rather than the whole40.
Sarah (27:04):
It's a huge, I think, a huge time savings for us and
some cost savings for the groweryeah, are you soil sampling
zero to six, six to twenty fouron this grids, or are you only
doing?
Jodi (27:17):
zero to six, just a zero to six yeah anybody that's done
grids, I think would agree thatgoing from 40 to uh 12 is a it's
amazing that's a win foreverybody, it's a w W.
Kurt Turner (27:30):
Right.
Sarah (27:31):
Kind of like the bison.
Kurt Turner (27:33):
The other thing is we're still learning, and a year
from now, our attitude and whatwe're doing might be totally
different.
We're just still anexperimental stage here, but so
far that's what we're seeing,yep, and I think that's
something else that's reallyimportant.
Sarah (27:48):
So far, that's what we're seeing, yep, and I think that's
something else that's reallyimportant.
Who would have ever thoughtthat, when it seems like the
debate has always been gridsversus zones, that you could
combine them and just be moreefficient and get better data
for the grower to make reallygood, informed decisions?
But along the way, we're justlearning.
I mean, precision agriculturedoes not look like what it did,
(28:11):
Kurt, I would imagine, at thebeginning of your career, and
it's probably going to keepchanging, and so it's okay to
keep learning and keep adaptingthings until you figure out what
really is how you want it to be.
But boy, it sure seems likethis is a great way to be going
forward and getting growers areally nice data set to be
working with and address somereal issues in a very efficient
way.
Lane Bothwell (28:32):
Like you said, addressing those issues.
I mean, we've seen this in thepast where you get your zone
results back and, yeah, there'sa zone that is low in pH.
So then you go to the growerand you have a conversation.
You have this zone that'spretty low in pH.
Okay, well, what are we goingto do about it?
I don't know.
Let's just spread lime on thatzone.
So that's kind of where maybeit started right and then it's
(28:54):
well, maybe, maybe we only needto spread lime on parts of the
zone.
Well, the only way that you'regoing to figure that out is by
breaking that zone down, and ofcourse gridding is is the best
way to figure out pH differences.
So we just kind of evolved intodoing that.
Kurt Turner (29:16):
Yeah, and even before you do grids, before you
start setting up grids and doinggrids, the conversation with
the farmer is how is he going toapply it and so forth.
Because if he's going to haulhis own lime, if he's going to
use his manure spreader, there'sprobably no point really
gridding it, because he canprobably do the whole zone
cheaper than us gridding it andgetting a variable spread and
all that stuff.
It's not a system I would saythat everybody's going to
(29:37):
utilize.
Jodi (29:39):
There needs to be consideration of logistics and
the specific grower and both ofyour time to figure out what the
best fit is.
Sarah (29:47):
But it's precision agriculture, that's the point.
Be precise with what the guyneeds.
So if one guy needs this, great, let's roll with it.
If another one doesn't, let'snot.
Kurt Turner (29:59):
It's the concept of precision agriculture.
Jodi (30:03):
This has been fantastic.
It's so great to hear from youguys in South Dakota, pretty
much pure corn and soybeancropping system how you guys are
addressing these pH issues, andI think this has been a really
insightful conversation that'sgoing to be really helpful to
growers not only in South Dakota, north Dakota, but probably
across the country, and so thankyou guys so much for sharing
(30:26):
your insight on this and yourexperience.
It's been invaluable.
So thank you guys again foryour time.
Sarah (30:32):
Thank you to the gentlemen at Ag Genesis, Kurt
and Lane, and with that here atGK Technology we have a map and
an app for that in the fieldsagain.
No, I can't wait to get in thefields again.
And now it's time for a Geek Speak with GK Technology's,
Sarah and Jodi, friends and Ican't wait to get in the fields
again.
No, I can't wait to get in thefields again.
Welcome back to Ag Geek Speak.
(00:34):
We are excited to have ourfriends Kurt Turner and Lane
Bothwell from Ag Genesis down inthe Brookings South Dakota area
and we had a great conversationlast time with them.
If you want to learn a littlebit more about the Ag Genesis
business, I suggest going backand listening to that episode.
We talked a lot about how Kurtreally does a lot of the mapping
(00:56):
in the office and Lane isactually the guy that does a lot
of the stuff out in the fielddoing the ground truthing.
It's really an interestingbusiness where you've got that
aspect of people really doingthe things that they really
enjoy the most and it brings outtheir best characteristics to
add to the precision agriculturebusiness that they've got going
.
On this episode we are going totalk about gridding the zone.
(01:19):
Kurt and Lane are doingsomething that's kind of unique.
I know I've given a lot ofpresentations on where do grids
fit and where do zones fit andit seems like most of the time
in normal precision agriculturewe're doing either or either
grids or zones, but not anaspect where we would do both.
So we're going to just dive inand have a little bit of a
(01:41):
conversation about that today.
First of all, to get thingsstarted and just to kind of give
a little bit of a conversationabout that today.
First of all, to get thingsstarted and just to kind of give
a little bit of reference towhere you are and how things are
kind of done in your area.
I think it's a good question toask what crops are you raising?
Kurt Turner (01:55):
Oh, we're mostly corn and soybeans.
There's a little bit of alfalfavery little, but some small
grains and then some some foragecrops.
So but it's, it's 90 percent,90 to 95 percent corn and
soybeans.
Jodi (02:12):
Yeah and is uh, is there some silage corn in that too,
and like is the alfalfa ordairies yes okay, yep, so you're
very I-state.
It sounds very I-state or likevery Minnesotan of a crop mix.
Kurt Turner (02:29):
Yeah, I would say yeah, we have.
Our cropping system probablyhas more in common with
Minnesota than it does the restof South Dakota, but our ground
is probably more common to therest of South Dakota than it is
Minnesota more common to therest of South Dakota than it is
Minnesota.
Sarah (02:48):
So explain that a little bit.
Because obviously when we'reworking with precision
agriculture, we're trying toaddress the variability of our
landscape and how we can raisedifferent crops within that
variability.
So explain to me when you'retalking about how your ground
sort of works maybe is moresimilar to South Dakota, if you
were going to describe yourground there, how would you
describe it?
Kurt Turner (03:09):
Most of our soils are very good soils here but we
do have rolling ground and wehave some clay hillsides and
clay knobs and gravel knobs andwe have bottoms that are wet.
So we probably have a morepercentage of poor ground what I
would say poor to moderate typeground in our fields, like most
(03:34):
of South Dakota does, than saywhen you go into some of the
areas of Minnesota, Iowa, where95% of the field is very good
soils.
So our soils are more similar.
We have some of theproductivity soil productivity
capacity that the high stateshave in our fields, but we also
(03:59):
have more poor ground in ourfields.
Jodi (04:03):
So it sounds very much like the prairie pothole region
where you've got glacialfeatures.
Lane Bothwell (04:10):
Topography really is the driver, I think, between
the good productive areas ofthe field, which again, I think
I can confidently say that wecan grow crops you know that are
southern Minnesota, iowa typecrop, I mean very good yields.
But then with topography comeslow wet bottoms and hilltops
(04:36):
that then can show some fairlypoor productivity zones.
So we have the potential in alot of areas, but with the
topography that we have in a lotof our fields there are going
to be some lower productivityareas.
Kurt Turner (04:50):
So a typical map for us for corn yield we will
run a low of, let's say, 130 onyield, 130 bushel, up to 230 to
240 on the high end.
So that's a lot of variabilityand we have some fields where we
have the bottoms at 100 bushels.
So yeah, it's a lot ofvariability.
Jodi (05:12):
That's really interesting and thinking about variability
and like your specific croppingsystem.
So you're in eastern SouthDakota, you are in a corn and
soybean system.
You are in dairy country, whichmeans there's manure
applications, but you also havea lot of topography.
You are in a corn and soybeansystem.
You are in dairy country, whichmeans there's manure
applications, but you also havea lot of topography.
You are in like the prime mixof gridding or zone mapping for
(05:33):
your fields.
Do you have any fields that arefully gridded, or what would
you say your mixes is of likefull grid versus zones.
Because the reason I bring thatup when I think about manure
application, that is a man-madeintroduction of fertility and so
the landscape is no longerdriving the soil fertility on
that, you've got how much manureyou've placed over there over
(05:54):
time as being your driver.
So, yeah, what does that mixlook like for you guys?
Grids versus zones?
Kurt Turner (06:01):
I would say we're 99% zones.
There's a few fields that weshould grid and those are fields
that are behind the barn, kindof fields, where the manure
spreader goes out and they justhead out behind the barn and
when they're empty they turnaround and go back, so the far
end of the field doesn't get any.
And those are to me, those arefields that are grid candidates.
(06:24):
Otherwise we're mostly zones.
Jodi (06:33):
And I think back to our discussion about landscape, and
I am guessing that's becauseyour yields are so landscape
driven that zones just makesense for you guys to implement
it that way versus grids.
Kurt Turner (06:40):
Yep, yeah, and we have some fields we don't do
variable rate on because they'rereally quite uniform.
So we haven't done any zones onthem because there just isn't
any uniformity, especially whenyou get in some of the soils and
fields around down in the BigSioux Valley there that are
completely flat.
It's all one soil type acrossthe field.
(07:01):
And yeah, some of those wedon't't.
We haven't, we have not zonedout.
Sarah (07:08):
So out of curiosity and those do you usually go back and
soil sample those like flatrate fields in the same place
every every year.
Are you still soil sampling thesame point every year on those?
Kurt Turner (07:22):
Currently we're not doing that.
Originally I was doing that,but we've kind of gotten away
from that.
If we're going to pick upchanges or variability within
the field, that maybe is real, Ithink you would miss that if
you're going to go back and dothe same points all the time.
Lane Bothwell (07:39):
I think, as long as they're not doing major
changes again, let's be gettingback to manure applications.
Everything's quite consistentyear after year after year.
We haven't been going back tothose same points.
I think you know, if you'retaking soil samples consistently
and accurately, regardless ifyou're going back to those same
points on those flat, consistent, non-variable rated fields,
(08:03):
we're going to find somesignificant changes, whether we
go back to those same spots ornot.
Usually they're just veryconsistent, Yep.
Sarah (08:13):
Yep, I think that's an important thing for the audience
to know as well, because I haverun into that myself right here
in the Red River Valley aroundHalstead and in Hillsborough.
It is flat, we have the samesoil type for miles and it just
there are times and places whereI've seen it appropriate to
make zones in these areas,especially for places where
(08:34):
maybe the surface drainagehasn't always been great and
you've got potholes where thingshave drowned out.
But kind of once you get thatfigured out, it's flat and it
just doesn't change a whole lot.
So that's an interestingconversation too about where is
precision agriculture?
Maybe not always the rightanswer, or zone sampling, or
(08:55):
precision soil sampling, Ishould call it.
So let's ask the question howare you guys gridding the zone?
You've been experimenting withthis and, just from a logistical
standpoint, how are youactually gridding these zones?
Kurt Turner (09:29):
pH.
Those are the zones that we aretrying to grid, and that way we
can get and figure out whereare the pH issues within that
zone that need to be taken careof in the form of lime, and so
for us, right now, it's pHdriven.
Sarah (09:41):
Okay, the purpose, the prime purpose for your gridding
the zone is pH and andremediating acid soils.
You're not using it right nowfor phosphorus or potassium or
anything any other non-mobilenutrient.
Kurt Turner (09:54):
Okay, no, the first ones we have done now, not to
say that we might not do more ofthat in the future, but right
now.
So the ones that we have done.
We just go out and sample forpH and that's all we're doing.
And then from there we build aLIME application variable
(10:14):
application map based on whatthe pHs are within the grids in
that zone.
So, for example, if you have afield that has a green, yellow,
red zone, right, you got threeproductivity zones.
I think, as I look back at someof last fall's samples, some of
(10:34):
the problem zones have beengreen zones, some yellow, but
there's more green zones thanyellow zones from what I have
seen.
So we would set up grids withinthat green zone and then we
would sample those grids andthen, based on our pH, build a
lime application map based onthat.
Sarah (10:57):
And Kurt, just to ask, your green zones are usually
indicative of a highproductivity area, then yes,
they are yes.
And so you're actually seeingthese issues in your area and
the high productivity areas.
Kurt Turner (11:09):
Some in the yellows too, but more I would say.
It's been about two-thirdsgreen, one-third yellow.
Sarah (11:17):
Interesting.
Jodi (11:18):
Which makes sense, because when I think about your areas,
so like your red zones, like wewere talking about in the
previous episode and thisepisode too, your red zone seems
to be either your gravelhilltops or maybe around your
sloughs Is that right?
Or like what are?
Your red zones, typically inyour area.
Kurt Turner (11:34):
Yeah, that's typically where our red zones
are and those are typicallyhigher in pH.
Okay, yep, and those aretypically higher in pH, so okay.
Jodi (11:42):
Yep, and thinking about like pH, right.
So if we think about like agravel hilltop and this is not
the case for every single soil,but typically when we think
about the prairie profile,you've got like an A horizon,
your nice beautiful dark organicmatter level, and you've got
like a BK horizon, which isagain very common in prairie
(12:03):
regions.
But that BK horizon, that nextlevel down, typically has an
accumulation of calciumcarbonate and so on our hilltops
.
Typically, you know it's anarea of really high erosion,
that A layer is probably goneand we might be hitting a higher
level of calcium carbonate andprobably getting higher pHs on
those hilltops.
Again, that's not always thecase, right, hilltops can be
(12:25):
made of clay, like we'vementioned before, and also sand
too.
That's really interesting inyour area that those highest
productivity zones are whereyou're seeing the lower pH.
There are stories in NorthDakota too, where that's the
case, where the higherproductivity areas are really
where we're starting to see someof these low pH soils.
Kurt Turner (12:42):
first, yeah, we had a case where we had we actually
had a.
It was a fairly it was a fairlynew client for us and they had
a.
We gridded the green zone butthere was an area down in the in
the corner of the field that itwas very poor productivity and
it didn't really make sense froma topography standpoint why
(13:07):
that area was so pure.
So we did actually sample thatfor pH 2, and it turned out to
be the lowest pH of all thegrids.
And so sometimes it's not justwell, we're just going to do the
green.
In this case we did that redspot too, because it just didn't
make any other sense why it waspoor productivity.
(13:29):
But it was as we suspect.
We suspect that the poorproductivity was because of the
pH.
So that zone, if they get itlimed and I don't believe it's
been done yet, but in that casethat area may turn into a yellow
zone or a green zone if we getthe pH correct.
Sarah (13:54):
So a guy has to use their brain a little bit too on this
stuff.
So when you run a zone sampleand you get your soil test back
by the zone, do you have a pHthat you're kind of looking at
for the whole zone to try todecide?
If yeah, I should really thinkabout gridding that particular
zone.
Kurt Turner (14:11):
Yeah, four below six.
Four below six pH Yep, okayyeah.
Jodi (14:17):
And when you're putting your grids together.
What size are you typicallyputting your grids?
Does it depend on how big thezone is?
How are you approaching that?
Sarah (14:26):
Or how many soil samples Lane actually wants to pull that
day.
Kurt Turner (14:30):
Yeah, so I call Lane and I say how busy are you
anyway?
But as the ones we've done sofar, I've tried to try to fit
the grids into the areas and sothey have been in that three to
yeah, I'd say, an average ofthree to three and a quarter
(14:51):
acres grids is what they've been, just kind of trying to fit
them in now, not saying that'show we're going to keep doing it
, because we're still trying tolearn too.
Not saying that's how we'regoing to keep doing it, because
we're still trying to learn too.
Jodi (15:03):
So, yep, I'm really curious, like with the fields
that you have gridded so far,how variable have those grid pH
levels been?
Has it been pretty variable foreach of those, or has each grid
kind of come back to the samelevel?
Kurt Turner (15:16):
What are you seeing with that?
Well, I would say that in thecases we've done, we're probably
averaging half of the grids arelow in pH and some are high.
I mean, I've seen some that are, you know, 7 on pH in that same
zone yeah, in that same zone.
So they have ranged from, Ithink, 5.4 up to 7 in the zone.
(15:44):
So there's a lot of variabilitythere.
Jodi (15:46):
Yeah, that's always.
It's so hard to think about.
Okay, when you're looking at asoil test result like that is,
you're trying to collect anaverage for the area that you're
covering and, yeah, it'simportant to remember.
You know, an average there'stypically, or a median, there's
half the data that's above thatpoint and half the data that's
below.
Kurt Turner (16:05):
Right, exactly.
Jodi (16:07):
Yeah, when we're looking at an average, we're not seeing
the whole picture of what thatvalue might be in that area.
Kurt Turner (16:14):
Right.
Jodi (16:14):
And for some areas, like you know, where the soil is the
same type across the whole field, then that median or that
average might actually representa big majority of that field.
Lane Bothwell (16:24):
Right no that's.
Kurt Turner (16:24):
That's really interesting to hear you know
what your results are and whatyou're seeing with that and
digging deeper into thatvariability within your field
and I have found that to me,this, this I think it helps to
justify a little bit about whatwe're doing, in that when we
find the pH areas that are low,they kind of tend to be
clustered and near each other,next to each other.
(16:47):
So I don't know, it gives me alittle more confidence, I guess,
in what we're doing, yep.
Jodi (16:53):
It's not like you have like a 40-acre zone and you go
out and it's checkerboardedacross that they're all low in
pH or like every other one islow in pH.
You find like clusters of wherethis whole 10 acre spot in the
middle is low pH and the otherareas around it aren't.
Kurt Turner (17:10):
Right.
Jodi (17:10):
And you find it in clusters, not just randomly
across that zone.
Kurt Turner (17:13):
Correct yeah.
Sarah (17:16):
How small when you've been making your variable rate
Lyme prescriptions?
When you've been making yourvariable rate Lyme prescriptions
, what are some of the smaller,lower pH areas that you've tried
to address?
From a variable rate, Somezones can get to be pretty big,
right?
I mean, I've had 40-acre zonesor 80-acre zones, even if I'm on
a half section, Right.
Kurt Turner (17:47):
How small?
Are you able to identify thoselow pH areas and get a
successful prescription to workto address those smaller areas
within the zone?
Well, I think you can probablygo as small as you want, as long
as the applicator knows whereto go.
But I tend to also round themoff.
I mean I tend to expand them alittle bit.
I tend to also round them off.
I mean I tend to expand them alittle bit and then if I got a
cluster of two over here andmaybe I got one over here, I'm
(18:08):
going to put lime in that wholearea and kind of round it out
and square it off for theapplicator.
Lane Bothwell (18:15):
Logistics is probably one of the biggest
factors that maybe comes intolime application.
The biggest challenge I thinkwe have with a lot of our
growers is liming is verydifferent than fertilizer, the
attitude and the way you know.
It's a whole different processand fix right.
So we had to find a way to getour growers to really take
(18:39):
liming and pH seriously, ourgrowers to really take liming
and pH seriously.
And high cost of fixing pH wasnot really a way to do that.
So we had to find a way to, youknow, make it economical as
possible.
So that means less work from us, which means a lower cost from
us, lower acres to cover, whichmeans less application costs and
(19:00):
less lime to be hauled.
And that was, I think, our bestway of trying to get guys to
take this a little bit moreserious, you know, but again,
logistics is the biggest part ofit.
So we tried.
We wanted to have to cover theleast amount of area as possible
with lime, Not just because of,you know, not only did we want
(19:22):
to only cover the areas thatneeded the lime, but we wanted
to make it as economical aspossible as well.
So our goal was to cover theleast amount of areas we could
with lime.
Jodi (19:34):
Absolutely.
I mean, that's why we're havingthis conversation in the
Dakotas now, right is becauseit's expensive.
We don't have the lime quarrieslike they do in Indiana and
Illinois, et cetera.
And speaking of that, I meanwhere are your growers able to
get lime right now?
What are their sources and whathave you seen being applied for
lime?
Kurt Turner (19:53):
They're getting it from the municipal water
treatment plants Brookings andWatertown, brookings and
Watertown.
They can also go to the sugarbeet plant in Renville to get
lime and I think there's a placedown by, there's a company down
by Trent, south Dakota, thatactually has a lime pit and that
(20:15):
they mine it from.
Sarah (20:16):
I didn't know that from.
Kurt Turner (20:24):
I didn't know that.
Yeah, so there's some sourcesaround, but the sources are very
limited, so it's kind of abattle to get it to, because the
municipal water treatmentplants are only doing so much
and beyond that.
If you're hauling it beyondthat, well then it just becomes
so expensive that guys don'twant to do it as it is.
You know, you talk to guysabout liming who've never done
liming before and their eyesjust roll in the back of their
(20:46):
head and they immediately changethe conversation.
How about those jackrabbits?
Sarah (20:57):
Well, you know what I'm going to say to that Kurt.
How about those bison?
Yeah, that's right.
Well, you know what I'm goingto say to that Kurt.
How about those bison?
I'm sorry, I had to get that in?
Kurt Turner (21:09):
Yeah, so anyway, it's a bit of a challenge to get
them interested as well.
So there's different ways guysare applying it.
Some have hired somebody tovariable rate, other guys
they'll haul it themselves.
And I know we had a grower afew years ago that had some
fields Actually there wasmultiple fields, multiple zones.
(21:31):
It was green and yellow in somefields that were low in pH, so
he hauled the lime himself andhe got his manure spreader and
he went out and spread ithimself.
So that's a pretty economicalway of doing it too, and that's
a conversation a person can havewith their clients about the
(21:52):
economics of things.
Sometimes it might be cheaperto spread lime in a larger area
than they need to if they can doit themselves.
And so those are allconversations that we have with
guys, yep.
Jodi (22:06):
So how many years have you guys had Lyme applied in your
customers' fields?
How long has the longest Lymeapplication been since
application?
Kurt Turner (22:19):
Four or five years, I would say.
Jodi (22:22):
And are you seeing improvement in that pH since
application?
Kurt Turner (22:27):
Yeah, there's definitely been some improvement
.
It seems like it takes a coupleyears for that pH to adjust
back, but yep.
Sarah (22:35):
So, logistically, I just have a couple of questions.
So, Kurt, when you're settingthe maps up in ADMS, generally,
when we're merging grid results,you need to have grid points
and you need to have a boundaryof some kind.
Kurt Turner (22:48):
Yep.
Sarah (22:48):
And so are you.
How are you doing that?
Are you actually like takingout the boundary, like creating
contour polygons and then takingthat boundary out or that
polygon out, and then thatbecomes the boundary for you?
Or how are you working that?
Kurt Turner (23:06):
Well, yeah, creating contour polygons based
on the soil testing map, wherewe have the different zones are
actually colorized.
So you end up with well, ofcourse, the way we soil sample
is for nutrients is we use afive zone map, but we only
sample three, and so this is theother thing I guess I'm still
(23:28):
kind of playing with or have towork through.
Do I convert that into a threezone and then make the contour
polygons, and then I've got aboundary right, I've got a
boundary for the yellow zone, sothen from that I create grids.
Sarah (23:45):
That's really fascinating .
So that's the logistics ofmaking that happen.
And then my next logisticalquestion is actually for Lane,
as far as it goes for the actualsoil sampling.
You know, when I've givenpresentations on gridding and
the cost difference and thelabor intensity of gridding
versus zones, it's a pretty bigdifference if you were going to
(24:06):
just grid an entire field.
So, Lane, have you gridded anentire field yourself ever?
Lane Bothwell (24:13):
Have I gridded the whole entire field?
Yes, by myself.
No.
Jodi (24:17):
As podcast listeners, you can't see this, but Kurt is
laughing, and rightfully so.
Sarah (24:21):
I have gridded an entire section by myself.
Before that was, it wasactually in two half sections.
I will say and it's a lot.
It's a lot, it's very laborintensive, and so can you tell
me a little bit about what youthink about the labor and the
cost savings of doing griddingthe zone type situation versus
(24:44):
gridding an entire field toglean the data that you're
looking for glean?
Lane Bothwell (24:47):
the data that you're looking for.
So I guess, on the cost part, Imean of course we're grading a
smaller area and we're you know,which would probably mean we're
taking less samples, whichmeans the cost of that is a lot
lower.
I believe we set it updifferently on how to charge.
Instead of a per acre cost,it's what's it costs us per grid
which then gets passed on tothe grower.
(25:10):
So the less grids we have totake, of course, the less that
it's going to cost to grow.
But as far as labor intensity,again, my attitude towards grids
becomes very different when Iknow the value of the grid that
I'm taking.
So gridding whole fields in ourarea for productivity wise
(25:30):
purposes, my attitude towardsthat would be very poor and I'm
not having a lot of fun.
But knowing I'm going out thereand that I'm gritting a smaller
area and it's for a purposethat I know is going to have
some value to the grower, youknow that makes the day a lot
better and we can get it done alot faster and again, the value
(25:53):
of that is a lot different thangridding the whole field.
We are not set up very well todo grids.
You know we go to do it, do iton a four-wheeler.
You guys know my attitude onthat.
Doing stuff on a four-wheelerearly spring, late fall, that's
not a lot of fun.
That takes time, you know.
And then we're using hydraulicprobes and pickups.
(26:15):
That's not a extremely fastprocess when you're.
There are better ways and waysto set up units with faster
machines, but we're just not setup for it really.
So just being able to have todo less grids, less acres, the
cost of it for our growers andthe logistics on our side, we
(26:36):
can actually get it done and,again, that value that we're
bringing in is worth it.
Kurt Turner (26:42):
You take a typical, let's say, 100 acre field and
you're going to do two and ahalf acre grids.
That's 40 grids, right, and theway we're doing it with kind of
targeting pH, so if I grid theyellow zone I may only do 12 to
15 grids rather than the whole40.
Sarah (27:04):
It's a huge, I think, a huge time savings for us and
some cost savings for the groweryeah, are you soil sampling
zero to six, six to twenty fouron this grids, or are you only
doing?
Jodi (27:17):
zero to six, just a zero to six yeah anybody that's done
grids, I think would agree thatgoing from 40 to uh 12 is a it's
amazing that's a win foreverybody, it's a w W.
Kurt Turner (27:30):
Right.
Sarah (27:31):
Kind of like the bison.
Kurt Turner (27:33):
The other thing is we're still learning, and a year
from now, our attitude and whatwe're doing might be totally
different.
We're just still anexperimental stage here, but so
far that's what we're seeing,yep, and I think that's
something else that's reallyimportant.
Sarah (27:48):
So far, that's what we're seeing, yep, and I think that's
something else that's reallyimportant.
Who would have ever thoughtthat, when it seems like the
debate has always been gridsversus zones, that you could
combine them and just be moreefficient and get better data
for the grower to make reallygood, informed decisions?
But along the way, we're justlearning.
I mean, precision agriculturedoes not look like what it did,
(28:11):
Kurt, I would imagine, at thebeginning of your career, and
it's probably going to keepchanging, and so it's okay to
keep learning and keep adaptingthings until you figure out what
really is how you want it to be.
But boy, it sure seems likethis is a great way to be going
forward and getting growers areally nice data set to be
working with and address somereal issues in a very efficient
way.
Lane Bothwell (28:32):
Like you said, addressing those issues.
I mean, we've seen this in thepast where you get your zone
results back and, yeah, there'sa zone that is low in pH.
So then you go to the growerand you have a conversation.
You have this zone that'spretty low in pH.
Okay, well, what are we goingto do about it?
I don't know.
Let's just spread lime on thatzone.
So that's kind of where maybeit started right and then it's
(28:54):
well, maybe, maybe we only needto spread lime on parts of the
zone.
Well, the only way that you'regoing to figure that out is by
breaking that zone down, and ofcourse gridding is is the best
way to figure out pH differences.
So we just kind of evolved intodoing that.
Kurt Turner (29:16):
Yeah, and even before you do grids, before you
start setting up grids and doinggrids, the conversation with
the farmer is how is he going toapply it and so forth.
Because if he's going to haulhis own lime, if he's going to
use his manure spreader, there'sprobably no point really
gridding it, because he canprobably do the whole zone
cheaper than us gridding it andgetting a variable spread and
all that stuff.
It's not a system I would saythat everybody's going to
(29:37):
utilize.
Jodi (29:39):
There needs to be consideration of logistics and
the specific grower and both ofyour time to figure out what the
best fit is.
Sarah (29:47):
But it's precision agriculture, that's the point.
Be precise with what the guyneeds.
So if one guy needs this, great, let's roll with it.
If another one doesn't, let'snot.
Kurt Turner (29:59):
It's the concept of precision agriculture.
Jodi (30:03):
This has been fantastic.
It's so great to hear from youguys in South Dakota, pretty
much pure corn and soybeancropping system how you guys are
addressing these pH issues, andI think this has been a really
insightful conversation that'sgoing to be really helpful to
growers not only in South Dakota, north Dakota, but probably
across the country, and so thankyou guys so much for sharing
(30:26):
your insight on this and yourexperience.
It's been invaluable.
So thank you guys again foryour time.
Sarah (30:32):
Thank you to the gentlemen at Ag Genesis, Kurt
and Lane, and with that here atGK Technology we have a map and
an app for that in the fieldsagain.
No, I can't wait to get in thefields again.
Popular Podcasts
Crime Junkie
Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.
24/7 News: The Latest
The latest news in 4 minutes updated every hour, every day.
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.