Crop Spec, A Collaborative Partnership A real time integrated plant nutrient monitoring and application system for Agricultural equipment

Founded 1905 World’s Largest Manufacture of Fertilizer 2008 –$ 7+ Bil in Sales –20+ Bil tonnes Research on N uptake dating to 1960’s Founded 1932 World Leading Company in Optical and Positioning Technologies 2008 $ 1 Bil in Sales PA business since 2007, 20+ years experience in Ag Applications, Rate Control, VRA, Consoles

The Challenge Nutrient supply within a field can be highly variable Soil Ability to exchange nutrients can vary Uniform Blanket application of nitrogen fertilizer can result in over- and underfertilization Measure the current local nitrogen supply Adapt Application Rate to Meet Crop Requirement

Yara Electronic Products, Present

Date: Page: 5 The measurement principle The N-Tester measures the total chlorophyll content of the leaf which is closely related to the nitrogen concentration in the leaf. Objective: To decide on a N fertilizer requirement based on N-Tester reading

Measurement Calculation of N fertilizer demand N application Plant Nutrition, Based upon Crop Need “Just In Time” Plant Nutrition

Yara N-Sensor ® adoption Number of units by countries as of spring 2009: 800+

Specular Reflectance Diffuse Reflectance Chlorophyll pigments Absorption Cells Bottom layer Interaction of Light with Leaves Sensing Chlorophyll in the Plant

Multiple transmitters, one receiver Modulated light source => Pulse Laser Diodes 2 spectral channels Temperature control Modu- lation High Pass Filter De- modu- lation control unit temperature controlled Pulse Laser Diode (1W) 10kHz optics Photo Diode CropSpec TM - Sensing Head

Waveband to Chlorophyll relationship The basis for getting meaningful crop information accurate measurements in various crops and over a wide range of crop densities based on know-how and extensive field trial work by Yara nm & nm Source: Reusch, 2005

Date: Page: 11  N status of crops can be measured by analysing reflectance spetral data => non- destructive, non-contacting IR ,1 0,2 0,3 0,4 0,5 0,6 Wavelenght, nm Reflectance 60 kg/ha 120 kg/ha 200 kg/ha Increase due to increased biomass Decrease due to increased chlorophyll content N Supply N response trail, 1994 Impact of different N supply on the reflectance spectra of winter wheat IR

System testing

CropSpec TM – specifications EnvironmentIP 67 compliant Laser safetyClass 1 or Class 1M Physical Dimensions200 mm x 80 mm x 80 mm Mounting height2 - 4 meters Viewing angle45°- 55° Temperature0 - 60°Celsius Operational wavebands nm and nm Supply voltage10-32 VDC Supply current5 A

d/2 h x1 x2 sensed area v sensed area 16° 50° Sensor Viewing geometry HX1X2Footprint (width) 2m0.89m + d/2 2.97m + d/2 2.08m 3m1.34m + d/2 4.45m + d/2 3.11m 4m1.78m + d/2 5.93m + d/2 4.15m

Large Sensor Footprint 3m

Cab Mounted Sensors Geometry provides largest footprint per sensor in the industry Sensing Larger % of Area to be Applied –Redundancy in Left and Right viewing areas Safety and Stability of Sensors –Less potential for damage Viewing crop at an angle, rather than from 90 degrees directly above –Minimize affects of shadowing, crop movement, etc. Light Source and Detector at Uniform Angle to Crop –Minimize affects of crop movement, weak crop stands.

Crop Spec System Diagram Implement with Liquid or Granular Application RS232 CANBUS Topcon X20

X20 as Controller and Data Collector

Biomass mapN application map Field size: 60.6 ha Minimum:0 kg/ha Average:62 kg/ha Maximum:110 kg/ha

Reliable measurements day and night

Designed to facilitate Accuracy and Repeatability

Read and Record –allows the user to collect and store data for offline analysis and creation of prescription maps –Use of various tools to develop prescription User Determined Rate Control –2 point Calibration, User sets High and Low –Field Observation point and use existing algorithm –“On the Go” Averaging with User determined target rate “On-the-Go” Application using Yara Agronomics –uses Yara’s crop specific algorithms to determine optimum amounts of fertilizer for real time variable rate application CropSpec Operational Modes

Achievable Yield Advantage Average: 1.8 dt/ha = 2.3 % , 160 Yara N-Sensor trials

Advantages of N-Sensor Controlled Nitrogen Application Yield increase 2-3% Easier and better harvesting More homogeneous grain quality Lower risk of lodging Better nitrogen use efficiency Full documentation of the fertilizer application Achievable profit: 30 – 100 €/ha

Research Centre Hanninghof - JJa - Date: Page: 25 Relationship between reflectance measurements and N uptake active measurement (N-Sensor ALS)

Preliminary research results