Extending switchgrass harvest over many months would require a smaller investment in harvest machines, but would result in a lower average harvestable yield per acre and would require more nitrogen fertilizer, less land for storage, and more land for growing switchgrass. A model was constructed...

Potential benefits of variable rate nitrogen application are illustrated and information needs identified. Lower costs of precision farming services, higher crop prices, and greater divergence in yield response potentials across management zones reduce the spatial variability required for...

Soil acidity and cotton yields are influenced by cover crop, nitrogen, and tillage method. Applying half the recommended lime rate may be possible without reducing cotton yields. Using a nitrogen intensive cover crop and applying less nitrogen should mitigate the effects on soil acidity and yields.

Deterministic and stochastic yield response plateau functions were estimated to determine the expected profit-maximizing nitrogen rates, yields, and net returns for corn grown after corn, cotton, and soybeans. The stochastic response functions were more appropriate than their deterministic...

Farmers are interested in knowing whether applying inputs at variable rates across a field is economically viable. The answer depends on the crop, the input, their prices, the cost of variable rate technology (VRT) versus uninform rate technology (URT), and the spatial and yield response...

A theoretical model identified ranges of spatial variability required within multiple-land-class fields for economically viable variable rate technology (VRT) and the spatial variability required for maximum return to VRT. An example illustrated that return to VRT and the viable range of spatial...