SSMG-2 (T. A. Doerge)

Management Zone Concepts

Summary:

Varying the application rates of plant nutrients and other crop inputs across variable fields makes good agronomic sense. For every input some reasonable strategy must be used to guide that application.

Grid soil sampling for phosphorus (P) and potassium (K) has greatly improved the accuracy of fertilizer application, although even greater accuracy can be attained by considering additional site characteristics within sub-regions of fields.

A "management zone" is a sub-region of a field that expresses a relatively homogeneous combination of yield-limiting factors for which a single rate of a specific crop input is appropriate.

Spatial information that is most helpful in defining management zones should be quantitative (numerical), densely or continuously sampled, stable over time, and directly related to crop yield.

The basis for accurate and profitable application of crop inputs…uniform or variable-rate…will continue to be a clear understanding of the agronomic factors that directly affect crop growth and yield.

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