Glasgow Area Chamber of Commerce And Agriculture New Trends in Agriculture Glasgow, MT January, 12, 2011

We call our input management suite of products ProfitZ. ProfitZ is not a pipe dream or snake oil. ProfitZ has been in use by professionals within the Crop Management industry for over 10 years in many different crops and geographies under a wide variety of conditions.

ProfitZ Crops: Wheat, Malt Barley, Durum, Alfalfa, Corn, Soybeans, Canola, Peas, Sugar beets, Dry beans, And Potatoes. Montana: We have applied over 200,000 acres of fertilizer using our variable rate technology. Our business is growing because the system works. Farmers save money on inputs, improve yield and quality.

Nitrogen Management The most frequent question is “What happened to my protein and test weight?” -It depends on (assuming moisture and heat units were not a limiting factor): Yield Goal Protein Goal Nitrogen Units Per Bushel Applied Timing of Application Variety

Yield goal is not hard to define, its just hard to get. You can under-fertilize N and probably get the bushels. You will not get protein or test weight. Fertilizing for the yield goal with todays N costs is very expensive and may still not get you protein and test weight. WHY? Nitrogen Management

Yield Variability Yield average is just that. The average of the field. The actual yield in any given spot within the field may be very different than the average. If the yield range is 20 bushel to 60 bushel in a 40 bu average field, you are over spending on N in a portion of the field and under spending in another. How much trouble you have getting protein and test weight depends on the size of the areas

ProfitZ is a revolution in crop management. All revolutions start with change. The ProfitZ revolution starts by changing the way we look at land.

Yield variability based on crop vegetation. The right imagery. From the right year. Shot at the right time. Verified by grower. How ProfitZ manages inputs.

Correlation of yield to vegetation. Vegetation and Actual Yield Chouteau County Montana 2008 Vegetation and Actual Yield Glacier County Montana 2004

Results Decrease in fertilizer cost. Conventional cost for N $ Variable Rate Cost for N $ Cost of Maps and Sampling$ Total Savings$ $14.90/acre Fertilizer cost savings. Soil testing showed adequate P and K levels across the field. Gain in yield and quality. Conventional strip average yield 39 bu./63.4#/13.8% pro. ProfitZ local strip average yield 41 bu./64.1#/14.6% pro. Variable Rate Application Map Nitrogen range 30 lbs Urea to 250 lbs. Based on a 40 Bushel Average Conventional Rate Test Strip 215 lbs Urea Variable Yield Bushel

Nitrogen – What can cause High N levels in Zone Samples? Too much N applied for crop uptake Saline areas reducing crop uptake Sandy soils with low water holding capacity Poor stand Hail early in the season Etc.

Nitrogen – What can cause Low N levels in Zone Samples? Crop yield potential exceeded supply Not enough fertilizer N Mineralization was low due to cooler than normal year N loss to denitrification Poorly drained soils N loss to leaching Coarse textured soils

Nitrogen – What is considered Too High or Too Low? Rule of thumb? Too High More than 60 lb/a (0-24”) Crop yield was not limited Protein should not have been limited Spent too much on N fertilizer Too Low Less than 30 lb/a (0-24”) Crop Yield may have been lost Protein was likely lost Not enough N fertilizer Extremely Low Less than 20 lb/a (0-24”) Yield and protein were probably lost

Nitrogen Range Between Zones Wheat Fields 2008, 2009, 2010 Year Average High Zone Nitrate-N (0-24”) Average Low Zone Nitrate N (0-24”) lb/a11 lb/a lb/a23 lb/a lb/a19 lb/a 2010 – Higher yields? more N losses? More weeds? Less mineralization?

Fall 2010 samples Average Soil Nitrate following Wheat in 2010 (lb/a 0-24” samples) 35 31

Soil Nitrate Variability Between Fields Following “WHEAT” in Montana

Managing Soil Nitrate Manage N fert so low zones are higher than 20 lb/ac Manage N fert so high zones are less than 60 lb/ac

Nitrogen Range Between Zones Fallow Fields 2008, 2009, 2010 Average High Zone Nitrate-N (0-24”) Average Low Zone Nitrate N (0-24”) lb/a29 lb/a lb/a 35 lb/a lb/a52 lb/a Not as much soil nitrate left in 2010? Losses? Less mineralization? More weeds?

Soil Nitrate Variability Between Fields Following “Fallow” in Montana

Phosphorus Soil Test Levels Zone Soil Samples 2010 Soil test level (Olsen P test) Soil Test Category % of zone Samples 0-3 ppmVL0% 4-7 ppmL 21% 8-11 ppmM27% ppmH21% > 15 ppmVH31%

% Soil Samples with Phosphorus less than 10 ppm Fall 2010 samples (0-6”) 60% 70% 31% 34% 45% (Olsen P test) 38%

Managing Phosphorus Manage P fert so low zones are at least 8-11 ppm Manage P fert so high zones exceed 20 ppm

Zone Sampling Map It all starts here.