crossing that narrow country bridge into the 21st century r.l. (bob) nielsen agronomy dept., purdue...

Crossing That Narrow Country Bridge Into the 21st Century

R.L. (Bob) NielsenAgronomy Dept., Purdue UniversityWest Lafayette, IN 47907-1150ph. (765) 494-4802Internet: [email protected]

Feb 1998 R.L. (Bob) Nielsen, Purdue Agronomy

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What’s on the other side of that bridge?• Cyberspace & ag. information

• GPS, GIS, SSF, PF, & BS

• Designer genes

• Corn may not be just corn anymore

Cyberspace & Ag. Information


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Cyberspace Includes...

• Primarily the Internet– World Wide Web, Gophers, Email, News Groups,

List Servers

• CD-ROM Programs– Purdue’s Corn Growth & Development CD

• Satellite delivery– Good for remote areas


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Advantages of Cyberspace...

• Open 24 hours per day– Good for users– Good for developers

• Content can be revised easily– Encourages timely updates– What I see in the field today can be on the Web

tonight, including digital images– Timely information is appealing to users


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• Not limited to own information– Links to other folks’ Web sites greatly broadens

scope of information available to clientele from single site

– Encourages collaboration among individuals within and among institutions

– Discourages duplication of efforts in neighboring institutions


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• Opportunity for use of multimedia– High resolution, color images easily incorporated

into Web documents– Sound, video, and animation somewhat limited

today by…• Skills of developer in many situations• Low speed modem connections of users’ computers• Browser limitations (esp. ‘old’ versions)


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• Multimedia enhances ability to tell a more complete story– Diagnostic images of diseases or insects– Planter calibration videos– Crop growth & development images and video– Expert’s voice leading you through a tutorial on

interpreting site-specific data


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• Email offers opportunity to easily…– Communicate one-on-one between user &

“expert”– Share timely information to specific lists of Email

users• County Extension Educators• Farmers• Industry contacts


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Disadvantages of Cyberspace...

• Clientele’s capabilities– Local Internet Service Provider availability– Speed of modem connections– Quality of local phone lines– “Power” of computer itself

• Not as instantaneous as DTN and other satellite delivery systems– Time to dialup & connect can be nuisance


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Disadvantages of Cyberspace...

• Separating junk from fact on the Web is not always easy for layperson– Some advocate need for peer reviews similar to

refereed journals– ‘Snake oil’ products & questionable advice are

already on the Web• My responsibility as an Extension Specialist includes

sorting out the junk from the valuable in reviewing Web sites for my clientele


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“The Best Corn Site on the Web!”

www.agry.purdue.edu/agronomy/ext/corn


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GPS, GIS, SSF, PF, & BS

• GPS: Global Positioning Systems

• GIS: Geographic Information Systems

• SSF: Site-Specific Farming

• PF: Precision Farming

• BS: _________


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Precision Farming: Excitement!

• Color maps are fun to look at!

• Yield monitors are fun to look at!

• Hi-tech wizardry is fun to buy and vendors love to sell it to you!

• Landlords are impressed!

• Finally, maybe we can finally identify and correct those problem areas in our fields once and for all!


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Precision Farming: Tools

• The tools to manage cropland on a site-specific basis are here or are being developed rapidly– Yield monitors– Grid soil sampling – Variable rate applicators & seeders– Portable GPS data recorders– Software to ‘massage’ the data


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Precision Farming: Reality

• Crop yields are influenced by vast array of yield limiting factors (YLF)– Some influence yield directly– Some interact with others to influence yield– Some occur every year, others do not– Some influence different crops differently– Weather interacts with most of them

Which YLF Are Most Important?

Row Spacing

Stand Establ.

Chemical Appl'n

Machinery Adj.

Harv. Date

Diseases

WeedsInsects

Tilth

Fertility

Moisture

Soil Temp.

Air Temp.

Humidity

Sunlight

Rainfall

Plt. Date

Seeding Rate

VarietyTimeliness

Last year?

Next year?

This field?

That field?


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‘Perennial’ Yield Limiting Factors

• The causes of some yield limiting factors occur every year – Soil fertility or pH patterns– Soil drainage patterns– Patterns of perennial weed growth

• These can be identified or attacked with site-specific technology


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‘Sporadic’ Yield Limiting Factors

• Other yield limiting factors occur sporadically over the years...– Diseases & insects, even fertility problems are

greatly dependent on weather

• Site-specific technology can help identify these problems when they occur, but not necessarily prevent their reoccurrence


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Identifying YLFs Is Difficult

• Requires season-long monitoring– For precision farming, will require

monitoring on site-specific basis

• Requires good note-taking skills– You think you’ve got reams of data from the yield

monitor now? Wait until you receive the data from season-long site-specific crop monitoring!


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Identifying YLFs Is Difficult

• Requires good agronomic skills– Esp. crop diagnostic skills– Ability to integrate layers of agronomic

information and relate to yield

• Beware the hazards of correlations!– “That patch of foxtail sure cut yields.”– “My best yields were in an area with twice the

recommended soil K levels.”


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An Example of theHazards of Correlations• Every single person who ate asparagus prior

to 1865 is now dead, therefore…..

• Eating asparagus can be hazardous to your health!


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“That patch of foxtail sure cut yields.”

Maybe that area of the field was also a low spot that ponded last spring, killed off some of the soybean stand, and the foxtail took advantage of the extra sunlight.

So, stand loss rather than foxtail could have been the real culprit.


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“My best yields were in an area with twice the recommended soil K levels.”

Occurred during 1995 drought. Best yielding area was also low, poorly drained area of field

So, maybe the yield response was more due to soil moisture availability differences than to soil potassium levels?


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My Advice?

• Hire a good agronomist to be your Sherlock Holmes!

• You’ll need the season-long expertise to help with the Precision Farming puzzle


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Precision Farming: Challenge

• It may be that we’ll only be able to fine-tune our crop production to a limited extent with site-specific technology– Identify and correct obvious yield limiting factors

such as soil fertility, pH, drainage– Identify and attack certain yield limiting factors

‘on the go’ during the season• e.g., developing pest or disease problems


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Precision Farming: Challenge

• But, we may be limited when trying to site-specifically manage those yield limiting factors that interact heavily with seasonal weather patterns– At least, until we can better predict next year’s

weather!

Designer Genes:The Promise of “Biotech”


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The Promise of “Biotech”

• Biotechnology allows seed companies...– To speed up hybrid development by decreasing the

number of generations required to incorporate improved traits,

– To incorporate traits from other species that have hitherto been unavailable to plant breeders, and

– To charge more for seed!


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‘Biotech’ Products

• Current crops– Bt corn (ECB)– Bt cotton– Liberty tolerant corn– Poast tolerant corn– Roundup tolerant

soybean & corn– STS tolerant soybean

• On the horizon– Bt corn (CRW)

• Way down the road– Drought resistance– Nitrogen fixation– Disease resistance– Antibiotics/vaccines– Yield itself


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‘Biotech’ Is Just A Tool

• Hybrid improvement also requires genetic and physiological research in order to identify desirable traits and the gene(s) that code for their expression– ‘Biotech’ products to date are primarily single gene

traits– Multiple gene traits are more difficult to work with,

yet account for many important crop traits


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Evaluating “Biotech” Varieties

• Evaluate ‘biotech’ varieties like you would any other ‘normal’ variety…– Yield potential compared to other elites

• Consider ‘yield drag’ or ‘yield lag’ effects

– Characteristics desirable for your farm– Frequency of payback for improved trait

• e.g., How many years in ten do European corn borers cause economic yield loss in your farming operation?

Corn May Not Be Just Corn On The Other Side of That Bridge!


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Some Folks Say...

• Within a few years, there won’t be such a thing as no. 2 yellow dent corn anymore!


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Some Folks Say...

• No. 2 yellow dent corn no more!

• Corn with value-added characteristics will be grown for specific niche markets that differ greatly from the traditional 4-legged ones of the past.


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Some Folks Say...

• No. 2 yellow dent corn no more!• Specific niche markets for corn.

• Farmers will profit greatly from the production of value-added identity-preserved (I-P) crops.


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What Are I-P Crops?

• Any crop marketed for...– Specific end uses based on a particular variety or

set of genetic traits, and for – Which a premium is paid above the price for the

crop as a raw commodity.

• I-P crops are not new...


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I-P Crops Are Not New!

• Seed corn, soybean, wheat, oats, etc.

• Popcorn• Sweetcorn• Waxy starch corn• High lysine corn• White corn

• High amylose starch corn

• High oil corn • High protein soybean

for tofu• Low-saturated-fat

soybean


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Characteristics of I-P Crop Production• Specific crop varieties often required.

– Bred for specific genetic traits.• Ah.....the potential for biotechnology!

– Sex with adjacent fields often prohibited.• Cross-pollination often ‘contaminates’ grain with

undesirable genes that ‘dilute’ the desired trait.


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Characteristics of I-P Crop Production• Specific crop varieties sometimes required.

• Specific inputs (or lack thereof) are sometimes required.– For example, organic production practices for

food grade grain may be required.


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Characteristics of I-P Crop Production

• Specific crop varieties sometimes required.• Specific inputs (or lack thereof) are sometimes

required.

• Seed must be harvested and stored separately from that of other fields.– To avoid ‘contamination’ with other varieties.– All the way from field to market.


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Characteristics of I-P Crop Production• Specific crop varieties sometimes required.• Specific inputs (or lack thereof) are sometimes

required.• Seed must be harvested and stored separately from

that of other fields.

• Grower contracts usually advisable.– Protects from the uncertainty of spot markets.


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Advantages of I-P Crops...

• Allow growers to benefit economically from added value of crops.– Through market premiums for the grain.– Through guaranteed markets for the grain.– Possibly by participating in ownership of

I-P ventures?


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• Allow growers to benefit economically from added value of crops.

• Allow seed researchers to recapture costs of new genetic technology.– Through higher seed prices.– Through partnerships with other industries.


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• Allow growers to benefit economically from added value of crops.

• Allow seed researchers to recapture costs of new genetic technology.

• Allow end-users to create even greater value-added outputs more efficiently.– Grain with high levels of desired constituents.– Grain with improved milling characteristics.


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Disadvantages of I-P Crops...

• Genetic ‘baggage’ sometimes restricts yield or other agronomic characteristics.– Yield “drag”

• Sometimes, “bad” genes come along for the ride with the targeted genes.

– Yield “lag”• Sometimes new traits are not yet incorporated into

elite hybrids.


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• Genetic “baggage”

• Value-added characteristics sometimes influenced by ‘Mother Nature’ or production practices.– Protein content– Oil content


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• Genetic “baggage”• Influence of “Mother Nature”

• Niche markets can fill or expire quickly.– How many acres of ‘baby corn’ does it take to

saturate the salad bar market?– Some I-P ventures will fluctuate greatly from year

to year.– Some I-P ventures will fail.


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• Genetic “baggage”• Influence of “Mother Nature”• Niche markets can fill quickly.

• Harvest & handling requires extra TLC– Quality of product more important


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• Genetic “baggage”• Influence of “Mother Nature”• Niche markets can fill quickly.• Harvest & handling requires extra TLC

• Local infrastructure (elevators) often not adequate for large-scale I-P crop production.– Isolation to maintain identity and purity will likely

be on-farm.


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Potential for Indiana Agriculture

• ‘Plain old’ no. 2 yellow dent corn will continue to be grown into the near future.– Its ‘dirt cheap’ price is attractive to industry.– A lot of ‘plain old’ cows & pigs still exist.– Int’l grain trade will likely still demand it.


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• No. 2 yellow dent corn will still be grown.

• I-P crop technology will require aggressive entrepreneuring.– For universities and industry in developing the new

end-uses and new markets.– For local infrastructure in gearing up to handle the

isolation and TLC requirements of I-P.– For farmers in seeking out I-P opportunities.


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• Nonetheless, I-P crop production WILL become more prevalent in Indiana.– Grain composition traits useful for specific industrial

uses.– Grain quality traits for improving animal feed use

efficiency, both on-farm and off. – Farmer cooperatives contracting directly with end-

users to provide ‘plain old’ grain, but with guarantee of quality or variety.


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Purdue Agriculture

“Farming is a kind of continual miracle wrought by the hand of God.”-- Benjamin Franklin

As you cross that bridge, remember this...

crossing that narrow country bridge into the 21st century r.l. (bob) nielsen agronomy dept., purdue...

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