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Economics of Variable Rate Lime in Indiana

Economics of Variable Rate Lime in Indiana In Indiana, variable rate application (VRA) of lime is often considered a good place to start site-specific management (SSM). This is because soil pH is one of the most variable of manageable soil characteristics in the state, the availability of essential nutrients is closely related to soil pH, and because spreaders can be retrofitted relatively inexpensively to do VRA. The objective of this study is to evaluate the profitability of VRA for lime as a stand-alone activity. The methodology involves a spreadsheet model using corn and soybean pH response functions estimated with small plot data. The overall results indicate increased annual returns to corn and soybean production with site-specific pH management strategies. On average, SSM with agronomic recommendations provides an increased annual return of $7.24 per hectare (ha) (+1.78%). SSM with the economic decision rule provides an average increase in annual return of $19.55 ha−1 (+4.82%). Information strategy, which uses site-specific information to determine the economically optimal uniform rate of lime, provides an average increase in annual return of $14.38 ha−1 (+3.54%). http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Precision Agriculture Springer Journals

Economics of Variable Rate Lime in Indiana

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References (53)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2000 by Kluwer Academic Publishers
Subject
Life Sciences; Agriculture; Soil Science & Conservation; Remote Sensing/Photogrammetry; Statistics for Engineering, Physics, Computer Science, Chemistry and Earth Sciences; Atmospheric Sciences
ISSN
1385-2256
eISSN
1573-1618
DOI
10.1023/A:1009936600784
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

In Indiana, variable rate application (VRA) of lime is often considered a good place to start site-specific management (SSM). This is because soil pH is one of the most variable of manageable soil characteristics in the state, the availability of essential nutrients is closely related to soil pH, and because spreaders can be retrofitted relatively inexpensively to do VRA. The objective of this study is to evaluate the profitability of VRA for lime as a stand-alone activity. The methodology involves a spreadsheet model using corn and soybean pH response functions estimated with small plot data. The overall results indicate increased annual returns to corn and soybean production with site-specific pH management strategies. On average, SSM with agronomic recommendations provides an increased annual return of $7.24 per hectare (ha) (+1.78%). SSM with the economic decision rule provides an average increase in annual return of $19.55 ha−1 (+4.82%). Information strategy, which uses site-specific information to determine the economically optimal uniform rate of lime, provides an average increase in annual return of $14.38 ha−1 (+3.54%).

Journal

Precision AgricultureSpringer Journals

Published: Oct 16, 2004

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