Assessment of Zone and Hybrid Decisions for Implementing a Multi-Hybrid Planting Platform.

The ability to variably plant multiple hybrids or treatments during field operation has been identified as one option in mitigating in-field variation caused by soil, disease pressures, environmental and water conditions. From an engineering standpoint, the system performance has been validated. However, producers still have questions concerning economic advantage from implementation, development of management zones, and hybrid assignment. Assessment of a multi-hybrid planting platform was conducted during the 2016 growing season. On-farm trials were performed on five corn fields and three soybean fields in eastern Nebraska. Corn trials focused on placement of two contrasting hybrids for soil type and water availability interactions. Soybean trials focused on site-specific placement of seed treatment to manage sudden death syndrome. Management zones were created through use of Management Zone Analyst to cluster highly correlating layers into zones. Spatial layers included yield maps, soil texture maps, and electrical conductivity maps. Only zones that were highly correlated with each other were included in the analysis. These zones were then smoothed. The most influential factor in each zone was determined and treatments assigned to each zone.  Variable selection of multiple layers allows the decision making process to be based on the features most representative of the field. Performance of hybrid placement and zone selection was assessed through in-season vegetative index readings, plant tissue nutrient analysis, disease assessments and ultimately with yield comparisons at harvest. Economic impact will be demonstrated through yield impact, or change in application amounts such as pesticides, seed treatment and water. Impacts on crop yield, in-season growth observations and profit analysis by zone will be presented for discussion of hybrid and seed treatment selection and zone delineation accuracy. Opportunities for application of the technology as well as associated challenges will be discussed.