Variable Rate Fertilizer and Lime

Crop Service Center always strives to be at the leading edge of technology and trends in agriculture. That’s why we first started in the variable rate fertilizer and lime business back in the late 90’s. Crop Service Center saw a need for these services because of the large amount of alfalfa grown in our area and the highly variable pH levels in the soils. Utilizing our Veris machine to develop site specific lime needs Crop Service is able to maximize your input dollars.
With the higher cost of fertilizer and seed many growers are now also seeing the return of investment of variable rate applying these products. Crop Service has always had the ability to variable apply products, but with the addition of growers gaining the equipment that can also do this task, Crop Service Center is a great partner to help you on your journey. Whether that is custom applying crop inputs, or writing files for your equipment, Crop Service Center can help.

Veris

Crop Service center is always looking for trends in agriculture to bring profitability to our customers. One way that we are able to achieve this goal is measuring soil conductivity and soil PH with our Veris MSP. The Veris MSP that we use here at Crop Service Center utilizes an on the go PH sensor and a Veris EC (Electric conductivity) sensor

• PH
  With typical grid sampling, soil samples are taken every 330’ (2.5 acre). Computer software fills in the gaps to make a nice-looking PH map. But there’s a serious problem on most fields: pH varies more than grid sampling can handle. When 2.5 acre grid lines are overlaid on pH maps from the Veris pH Manager, the pH variability within each grid is fully exposed—and the pH within each grid can vary as much as it does in the entire field! The Veris system, with the first commercially available on-the-go sensor for soil pH, is able to map the highly variable PH readings by capturing approximately 10 pH soil samples per acre.
  This variance of pH across a grower’s field can be capitalized on and turned into profit. This is accomplished by the saving of lime on areas that do not require as much inputs, and by correctly addressing low pH areas with enough lime to improve crops. How much you save will depend on your fields and your local lime costs. Typically, 1/3 of a ton of lime can be saved or redistributed to where it’s really needed. Independent university research and the results from satisfied customers all point to the same fact: on-the-go pH mapping from the Veris pH Manager is both proven and profitable.
• EC
  Soil EC is soil electrical conductivity – a measurement of how much electrical current soil can conduct. It’s an effective way to map soil texture because smaller soil particles such as clay conduct more current than larger silt and sand particles.
  Growers, consultants, and suppliers are using Veris soil EC sensors to devise management zones, set soil sampling locations, create variable rate seeding prescriptions, better manage nitrogen applications, and improve irrigation prescriptions – just to name a few uses of Veris EC maps. Link to veris website. http://www.veristech.com/

Soil Sampling

Crop Service Center is always mindful of the cost of inputs that our growers need to get the most out of their acres. That’s just one reason we offer soil sampling as a service here at Crop Service Center.

• Basic Soil Sampling
  Soil sampling before making any crop nutrient decisions is a must. Without a good sample of your field for proper fertility levels, it’s a guess on where those levels are. With the high cost of inputs and the desire to be good stewards to the land, a soil sample can quickly pay for itself. Here at Crop Service on our very affordable basic sampling package we pull 10-15 core samples per field and combine those for a single composite sample. After the results are in from our trusted lab partner, one of our sales team will sit down with a grower and go over the sample to make the best nutrient decision for the intended crop at the desired price point.
• Grid Sampling
  Grid sampling is the development of grids, layered over a field with GPS, to pull soil samples from predetermined spots within the grid. This intensive soil sampling method allows growers to maximize returns while not overspending on inputs. Crop Service Center Agronomists pull high-quality samples and input into our mapping program to make variable application maps of needed inputs for fertilization, or seeding maps for planting.
  Website for our soil lab   https://www.midwestlabs.com/

Data Processing and Gathering

Today, where technology is an ever changing system, it’s good to know that Crop Service Center is here to help. With many of our customers entering the realm of yield mapping and variable rate seeding and fertilizer, Crop Service Center is constantly training and working with growers to gather and understand data.

We currently offer to our growers-

• Gathering data from equipment
• Downloading data to equipment
• Storage of data
• Cleaning of data
• Reading and writing of files for VRS, VRF, and VRL

Also remember we are always willing to work with your equipment providers in regards to data.