Canopy Reflectance Sensors As a Decision Tool for N Rate.

Technology and procedures continue to mature for canopy reflectance sensing used to assess crop N health and make in-season N fertilizer recommendations. While canopy sensing has been explored with many crops, work in corn (Zea mays L.) dominates largely because of high N fertilizer requirements and the need to reduce environmental N losses from corn cropping systems.  The presentation will focus on the current state of corn canopy reflectance sensing, barriers to increased adoption, and the developed algorithms used with these sensors for making N rate recommendations. The case will be presented for developing more intelligent technologies and algorithms that are responsive under a wide variety of management, soil, and weather conditions present in corn growing regions.  Concepts of integrating other types of sensor information will be explored.