March 20, 2025 • 8 mins
Field boundaries serve as the digital cookie cutters of precision agriculture, defining where field operations begin and end for optimal resource management. Understanding their purpose and creation methods allows consultants and growers to implement more precise applications and better predict input needs.
• Boundaries determine where equipment turns on and off during field operations
• Accurate boundaries help predict input requirements and prevent waste
• Vector files (typically shape files) define the digital representation of field boundaries
• Water management requires different boundary considerations than nutrient management
• Creating boundaries can be done through driven collection with RTK-enabled vehicles
• Drawing boundaries in GIS software requires well georeferenced backgrounds like NAIP imagery
• Common Land Units (CLUs) provide a starting point but often lack precision
• Moving vertices allows for refinement of boundary polygons
• Accurate boundaries serve as the foundation for all precision agriculture mapping
Connect with GK Technology for all your precision agriculture needs - we have a map and an app for that!
https://gktechinc.com/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Jodi (00:00):
And now it's time for a tiny bite of knowledge.
Sarah (00:13):
Hey, jodi, what does precision agriculture and baking
have in common?
Jodi (00:19):
You need gloves sometimes I don't know.
What do they have in common?
Sarah (00:23):
Sarah.
Well, when you bake, sometimesyou need to use a cookie cutter.
When you do precisionagriculture, you always need a
boundary which acts like acookie cutter for where the
field operations begin and wherethey end.
Jodi (00:38):
Sarah.
That's such a great analogy todescribe what a boundary is.
Whenever we are doing some sortof field operation or whenever
we're trying to make a map, weneed to know where that field
begins and where that field ends.
And that is exactly what aboundary is doing when we create
that in our Precision Agsoftware.
Sarah (00:58):
Absolutely.
So let's back up for a second.
Usually a boundary is a vectorfile and some kind of a vector
file format, and in ADMSsoftware from GK Technology, we
usually use our boundaries in ashapefile format and we work
with them in a shapefile format.
But why is having an accurateboundary so critical, jodi?
Jodi (01:20):
You need to know where exactly in that field.
If you're doing a fertilizerapplication, for instance, if
you're making a map about thatfield, about where you're going
to apply it, you want to makesure that A you're not applying
it where you don't have to right.
So if you don't have a boundarythat includes the road, your
machine isn't going to startspreading the fertilizer outside
of that boundary.
B it can help you actuallylooking at the area that is
(01:44):
represented by the boundary ofwhere that field application is
going to occur.
That can also help you actuallypredict what inputs you need
for that area.
So getting that as accurate aspossible will help you make an
accurate application and helpyou prepare and plan for that
application out in the field.
What else might a boundary beimportant for?
Sarah (02:03):
It really is the place where it will shut the equipment
off.
If you are writing aprescription, that boundary is
the edge of where your equipmentwill shut the equipment off.
So, for example, if you have arock pile out in the middle of a
field and that rock pile isreally small and you draw a
boundary around it, it's goingto shut off a whole section.
Sometimes that section actuallygoes into the field a little
(02:25):
bit.
So you got to think about that.
There are actually times whereI've got those little tiny rock
piles and I actually won't put aboundary around them because I
would rather be that tight andthat close and make sure that
the application is all the wayup against that rock pile than
shut off a whole section of thatboom.
That's an important thing tothink about.
We also use boundaries whenwe're making surface drainage
(02:47):
maps in ADMS, and when we'rethinking about making surface
drainage maps it's a completelydifferent concept than when
we're doing nutrient management.
We're trying to think aboutwhere the water begins and where
it ends.
So does the water Jodi at yourfield?
Does it start just right atyour tillage line on your field
and does it completely end atyour tillage line on your field?
Jodi (03:09):
No, absolutely not.
It flows from someplace elseand it flows out of the field.
On the other end, most of thetime, most of the time.
Sarah (03:17):
If it doesn't, you probably need a surface drainage
mat called GK technology.
We can help you with that.
But anyway, back to the wholeboundary conversation.
When you're thinking aboutwater, you need to make sure
that you're setting up waterfrom thinking about where it's
coming from and where it's goingto, so that you can really
encompass that whole thing, soyou understand what's going on
(03:37):
in the watershed, not justwithin your field, because the
water flow across your field isaffected by what's going on
around it, absolutely.
Jodi (03:47):
So one thing that's really important about actually
drawing boundaries in fields isthat there's a couple different
ways to actually make them.
So, for example, you might besomeone that uses RTK on a gator
and you go around your fieldboundary and collect it that way
.
Sarah (04:04):
And that's what we call a driven boundary right, Jodi.
Jodi (04:07):
Yeah, so that'd be a driven boundary.
What you can also do is you canmake boundaries in GIS software
, and if you're someone that'sgoing to draw a boundary in a
GIS software, what's reallyimportant is that you don't just
use any background to draw onto.
You might think, oh well, if Ijust open up a Google Earth,
that I can just use thatbackground to draw the
boundaries.
But what's very important isthat that background that you're
(04:30):
drawing the map onto must begeo-referenced, and so, for
anybody that's familiar withusing ADMS, what we always
advocate for is downloading aNAEP file, which is part of the
National Agriculture ImageProgram, and what that NAEP
image is.
It's a really high resolutionpicture of fields that is also
(04:51):
geo-referenced.
So if you're dropping a pin todraw your boundary, that is
going to be very, very, veryclose to where that location
would actually be on planetEarth, so you can draw accurate
boundaries with that NAEP imagein the background.
Sarah (05:07):
So what about CLUs?
What's a common land unit?
Jodi (05:11):
So what CLUs are?
They are used by FSA, usda, todetermine contiguous areas of
cropped farmland.
As a grower, you might get anFSA map that shows what the FSA
knows of your farm and they'relike kind of blocky and
represent the fields either asthey're cropped now or maybe in
the past when there was truerows.
Basically it's cropping units.
(05:33):
These are all geo-referencedbut they're a little bit blocky.
They don't exactly get to thespecific boundaries and, like
the corners of your fields,they're pretty rough when it
comes to getting at fieldboundaries.
But that's all they need.
They just need an estimate.
Sarah (05:47):
Common land units are the boundaries that farmers
actually certify their acreswith the FSA the Farm Service
Agency annually after planting.
So it's a very handy thing touse.
But, to Jodi's point, they'renot always accurate for where
you actually want to be turningon and shutting off the booms of
your applicators and fertilizerspreaders.
Jodi (06:08):
They're a great place to start.
So if you don't want to draw itby hand, you can pull a CLU in
and you can start modifying thatboundary to make it a little
bit more specific to your field.
Sarah (06:19):
There are times and places where I will pull in a
CLU, a common land unit boundary, and I'll start there and I'll
put that NAEP image on thebackground just to see how
accurate it is and if I can movevertices just enough so that I
get a good boundary out of it,that's great.
99.9% of the time I'm throwingit out and I'm actually just
starting from scratch anddrawing so that I have that
(06:41):
accurate boundary.
Hey, sarah, what's a vertice?
Vertice is a point on a shapefile that polygons are made up
of lines and points.
Point on that line thatconnects, like the corners of
the lines, to make the polygon,so you can actually move a
vertice, thereby changing theshape of the polygon, which is
(07:05):
your boundary.
Jodi (07:06):
Boundaries are so important.
It is one of the bedrock piecesof precision ag and map making,
and so the first part of a goodprecision ag recipe is going to
get your cookie cutter outfigure out where on earth that
boundary should exist, make ithappen and then proceed from
there.
Sarah (07:25):
Also, I hope by the time I'm done making a bunch of maps,
somebody is baking me a bunchof cookies with cookie cutters.
I like gingerbread.
Tune in next time for a tinybite of knowledge from GK
Technology where we have a mapand an app for that.
And now it's time for a tiny bite of knowledge.
Sarah (00:13):
Hey, jodi, what does precision agriculture and baking
have in common?
Jodi (00:19):
You need gloves sometimes I don't know.
What do they have in common?
Sarah (00:23):
Sarah.
Well, when you bake, sometimesyou need to use a cookie cutter.
When you do precisionagriculture, you always need a
boundary which acts like acookie cutter for where the
field operations begin and wherethey end.
Jodi (00:38):
Sarah.
That's such a great analogy todescribe what a boundary is.
Whenever we are doing some sortof field operation or whenever
we're trying to make a map, weneed to know where that field
begins and where that field ends.
And that is exactly what aboundary is doing when we create
that in our Precision Agsoftware.
Sarah (00:58):
Absolutely.
So let's back up for a second.
Usually a boundary is a vectorfile and some kind of a vector
file format, and in ADMSsoftware from GK Technology, we
usually use our boundaries in ashapefile format and we work
with them in a shapefile format.
But why is having an accurateboundary so critical, jodi?
Jodi (01:20):
You need to know where exactly in that field.
If you're doing a fertilizerapplication, for instance, if
you're making a map about thatfield, about where you're going
to apply it, you want to makesure that A you're not applying
it where you don't have to right.
So if you don't have a boundarythat includes the road, your
machine isn't going to startspreading the fertilizer outside
of that boundary.
B it can help you actuallylooking at the area that is
(01:44):
represented by the boundary ofwhere that field application is
going to occur.
That can also help you actuallypredict what inputs you need
for that area.
So getting that as accurate aspossible will help you make an
accurate application and helpyou prepare and plan for that
application out in the field.
What else might a boundary beimportant for?
Sarah (02:03):
It really is the place where it will shut the equipment
off.
If you are writing aprescription, that boundary is
the edge of where your equipmentwill shut the equipment off.
So, for example, if you have arock pile out in the middle of a
field and that rock pile isreally small and you draw a
boundary around it, it's goingto shut off a whole section.
Sometimes that section actuallygoes into the field a little
(02:25):
bit.
So you got to think about that.
There are actually times whereI've got those little tiny rock
piles and I actually won't put aboundary around them because I
would rather be that tight andthat close and make sure that
the application is all the wayup against that rock pile than
shut off a whole section of thatboom.
That's an important thing tothink about.
We also use boundaries whenwe're making surface drainage
(02:47):
maps in ADMS, and when we'rethinking about making surface
drainage maps it's a completelydifferent concept than when
we're doing nutrient management.
We're trying to think aboutwhere the water begins and where
it ends.
So does the water Jodi at yourfield?
Does it start just right atyour tillage line on your field
and does it completely end atyour tillage line on your field?
Jodi (03:09):
No, absolutely not.
It flows from someplace elseand it flows out of the field.
On the other end, most of thetime, most of the time.
Sarah (03:17):
If it doesn't, you probably need a surface drainage
mat called GK technology.
We can help you with that.
But anyway, back to the wholeboundary conversation.
When you're thinking aboutwater, you need to make sure
that you're setting up waterfrom thinking about where it's
coming from and where it's goingto, so that you can really
encompass that whole thing, soyou understand what's going on
(03:37):
in the watershed, not justwithin your field, because the
water flow across your field isaffected by what's going on
around it, absolutely.
Jodi (03:47):
So one thing that's really important about actually
drawing boundaries in fields isthat there's a couple different
ways to actually make them.
So, for example, you might besomeone that uses RTK on a gator
and you go around your fieldboundary and collect it that way
.
Sarah (04:04):
And that's what we call a driven boundary right, Jodi.
Jodi (04:07):
Yeah, so that'd be a driven boundary.
What you can also do is you canmake boundaries in GIS software
, and if you're someone that'sgoing to draw a boundary in a
GIS software, what's reallyimportant is that you don't just
use any background to draw onto.
You might think, oh well, if Ijust open up a Google Earth,
that I can just use thatbackground to draw the
boundaries.
But what's very important isthat that background that you're
(04:30):
drawing the map onto must begeo-referenced, and so, for
anybody that's familiar withusing ADMS, what we always
advocate for is downloading aNAEP file, which is part of the
National Agriculture ImageProgram, and what that NAEP
image is.
It's a really high resolutionpicture of fields that is also
(04:51):
geo-referenced.
So if you're dropping a pin todraw your boundary, that is
going to be very, very, veryclose to where that location
would actually be on planetEarth, so you can draw accurate
boundaries with that NAEP imagein the background.
Sarah (05:07):
So what about CLUs?
What's a common land unit?
Jodi (05:11):
So what CLUs are?
They are used by FSA, usda, todetermine contiguous areas of
cropped farmland.
As a grower, you might get anFSA map that shows what the FSA
knows of your farm and they'relike kind of blocky and
represent the fields either asthey're cropped now or maybe in
the past when there was truerows.
Basically it's cropping units.
(05:33):
These are all geo-referencedbut they're a little bit blocky.
They don't exactly get to thespecific boundaries and, like
the corners of your fields,they're pretty rough when it
comes to getting at fieldboundaries.
But that's all they need.
They just need an estimate.
Sarah (05:47):
Common land units are the boundaries that farmers
actually certify their acreswith the FSA the Farm Service
Agency annually after planting.
So it's a very handy thing touse.
But, to Jodi's point, they'renot always accurate for where
you actually want to be turningon and shutting off the booms of
your applicators and fertilizerspreaders.
Jodi (06:08):
They're a great place to start.
So if you don't want to draw itby hand, you can pull a CLU in
and you can start modifying thatboundary to make it a little
bit more specific to your field.
Sarah (06:19):
There are times and places where I will pull in a
CLU, a common land unit boundary, and I'll start there and I'll
put that NAEP image on thebackground just to see how
accurate it is and if I can movevertices just enough so that I
get a good boundary out of it,that's great.
99.9% of the time I'm throwingit out and I'm actually just
starting from scratch anddrawing so that I have that
(06:41):
accurate boundary.
Hey, sarah, what's a vertice?
Vertice is a point on a shapefile that polygons are made up
of lines and points.
Point on that line thatconnects, like the corners of
the lines, to make the polygon,so you can actually move a
vertice, thereby changing theshape of the polygon, which is
(07:05):
your boundary.
Jodi (07:06):
Boundaries are so important.
It is one of the bedrock piecesof precision ag and map making,
and so the first part of a goodprecision ag recipe is going to
get your cookie cutter outfigure out where on earth that
boundary should exist, make ithappen and then proceed from
there.
Sarah (07:25):
Also, I hope by the time I'm done making a bunch of maps,
somebody is baking me a bunchof cookies with cookie cutters.
I like gingerbread.
Tune in next time for a tinybite of knowledge from GK
Technology where we have a mapand an app for that.
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