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    Integrating 4R Nutrient Stewardship and Precision Ag

    In his keynote address at the 11th International Conference on Precision Agriculture, Dr. Newell Kitchen, USDA-ARS, highlighted the significant role that nutrient management plays in the industry. “Nutrient management has been a starting point, the seedbed of a lot of the concepts where we got going [in precision agriculture].” He noted that in the early years of the conference, as many as 70 percent of the papers presented dealt with nutrient management. That number continues to be around 50 percent and may increase in coming years as options for precision nutrient management continue to grow. 

    The history of precision nutrient management can be thought of as developing in three phases: adoption, integration and accountability. Dr. Kitchen pointed out that early on, we basically took what we knew about nutrient management and applied a spatial component to it. The precision agriculture movement really started to expand and overcome many of the short-comings of the adoption approaches when agronomists and farmers began integrating existing knowledge with new technologies. He cited crop canopy sensors as an example of the growing options for precision nutrient management created by integrating real-time spatial and temporal information into the decision-making process. 

    4R nutrient stewardship is another example of integration in nutrient management. Dr. Kitchen acknowledged that the ideas of applying the right source at the right rate, at the right time and in the right place have always been fundamental in our understanding and application of soil fertility and plant nutrition. However, the language, descriptiveness and holistic emphasis put forth in the 4Rs is unique and fresh and now “precision agriculture is woven into many of the concepts of 4R stewardship.” He also said, “Precision science and technologies allow us to emphasize [the 4Rs] all at the same time; to wrap our arms around the concepts in a way that we can move forward in a meaningful way.” 

    Precision agriculture tools can provide the feedback and recordkeeping necessary for the accountability needed in nutrient management. Including accountability is another way 4R stewardship moves beyond traditional nutrient management. One of the main ways this is accomplished is through the inclusion of a dynamic feedback mechanism. In the past, nutrient management was linear, mostly from the top down, with no feedback, nor any assessment of changes in practice. 4R nutrient stewardship provides the framework for stakeholder involvement at the farm, regional and policy-making levels, and precision agriculture tools can provide feedback to all these players. Using performance indicators as an objective evaluation of management practices increases the level of accountability that’s important to most all stakeholders. Precision ag technologies also make performance indicators more accurate and effective. Dr. John Fulton, Auburn University, echoed Dr. Kitchen’s feelings on nutrient management accountability in his presentation by stating, “I really think there should be a fifth R: right record-keeping.” 

    Integrating precision agriculture and 4R nutrient stewardship enhances our ability to meet the sustainability goals of crop production systems.As more growers adopt precision technologies for guidance, variable-rate control, data collection and information management, their ability to apply the right nutrient source, at the right rate, at the right time and in the right place increases considerably. This integration also enhances feedback among stakeholders and increases the confidence that the economic, environmental and social challenges that face agricultural production can be viewed as opportunities to further advance nutrient management. When we as an agricultural community commit to this approach, we will begin to change people’s attitudes about nutrient management and find, as Dr. Kitchen stated in his closing remarks, “a great frontier ahead of us.”

    Source: Dr. Steve Phillips, Southeast Director, International Plant Nutrition Institute