Aerial variable rate application Right rate. Right place.
IntelliSpread - transforming topdressing The smarter way to realise the full potential of your hill country farm Through its computercontrolled precision aerial application, Ravensdown s IntelliSpread TM system will enable hill country farmers to: 1. Optimise production 2. Waste less 3. Reduce your environmental impact On successful completion of the research phase, IntelliSpread TM will be the only fertiliser delivery system with AirScan TM remote sensing and placement verification technology. What can IntelliSpread TM do for me? IntelliSpread TM is about ensuring the right amount of the right fertiliser is placed where it s needed instead of where it s not. Standard The standard IntelliSpread TM system activates the automated doors so they are closed over areas where aerial spreading would be wasteful or environmentally unacceptable. Advanced The advanced IntelliSpread TM system automated doors also close over ineffective areas. In addition, it varies the rate of fertiliser applied through computer-controlled hopper doors that are working to a map which has been wirelessly uploaded to the plane. How do I know where the fertiliser has been applied? For auditing and planning purposes, Ravensdown s Placement Verification Technology (PVT) will provide a graphic overlay to the HawkEye system. This is important for your records and for future compliance purposes. PVT is different to other options because proof of placement with other aerial spreading services only means proving that the door opened when it should. By contrast, Ravensdown s placement verification technology accounts for: 1. Plane speed 2. Product ballistics* (size and density). Soil diagnostics The vision is that AirScan TM will be like conducting 10,000 soil tests per hectare, but much easier! With AirScan TM, you can see a unique soil fertility map across your terrain. As the world-leading technology becomes validated, IntelliSpread TM will become the most accurate aerial fertiliser application and verification system available. Air Scan Ultimately, the map itself will be created using unique AirScan TM sensing technology (after being validated to estimate the farm's soil fertility from the sky). *When fully implemented 2
OLD APPROACH 'BLANKET' APPLICATION Figure 1: Aerial top dressing Using farm imagery to avoid topdressing non-productive areas of your farm such as swamps, ponds, forestry blocks and steep faces, you can redeploy, on average, 9% of your fertiliser that you can also use to invest back into more productive areas of your farm. Figure 1 shows current practices and figure 2 shows what Ravensdown's Intellispread technology offers through variable rate application and farm imagery. REDEPLOY 9% of your fertiliser 'VARIABLE RATE' APPLICATION Figure 2: Variable rate application using variable data. Exclusion zones are zones avoided during variable rate application by using more detailed data. 3
How does IntelliSpread work? Soil diagnostics AirScan TM will be like conducting 10,000 soil tests per hectare, but much easier! With AirScan TM, you can see a unique soil fertility map across your terrain. The advantage of IntelliSpread TM is the automated and wireless way all the files and maps can be handled for a convenient and straightforward process. 4
Decision support Dynamic deployment Placement verification With your agri manager, the farm is split into blocks and zones. The nutrient budget is worked up using OVERSEER and other decision support tools to work out the best rate and areas to apply phosphate, potassium, nitrogen and sulphur. This will allow for aspect, gradient and soil type. Choose between the standard service for automatic, mapdriven door open / door close instructions or choose the advanced IntelliSpread precision application service. The full service allows computercontrolled, pitch-adjusting doors to dynamically modify fertiliser rates for targeted placement. When you need a visual record of where the fertiliser has been applied, IntelliSpread TM placement verification will be ideal. The simple graphic will be based on complex calculations and calibrations that account for product ballistics and speed. 5
Case Study: AirScan - a game changer for farmers The ability to soil test from the sky and have proof of placement from aerial spreading are the opportunities being presented to eight research farms across the country, with Ben Todhunter at Cleardale Station one of the first to be trying out the technology being developed. He s hoping his Rakaia hill country farm will be able to benefit from the ability to more precisely manage his soil nutrients and fertiliser programme. The concept is interesting and I m keen to help and utilise the science that is being developed, Ben says. He explains the technology will be key to continuing their conservation work on their hill country farm as well as enabling them to be more effective in growing and converting pasture into a more valuable product. I m most looking forward to better understanding the soil variability of soil fertility across the property, and being able to be more precise with our fertiliser application, improving targeting applications to optimise distribution and improving accuracy away from waterways and conservation areas." As part of the precision agriculture journey, this is where Ben sees hill country farming going. Ravensdown s aerial soil scanning technology is a bit of a step change in nutrient application. It is a part of New Zealand s continuous improvement and tendency to lead in the early adoption of new technology, which will help the environment and profitability for hill country farms. I see it becoming a part of the precision ag norm, where flat land farmers will also take up the technology. I m hoping it will end up within the drone technology so farmers or contractors can operate it themselves in a timelier fashion. Michael White, Ravensdown Technical Development Manager, adds that the national network of research farms for Ravensdown s PGP programme are spread over a range of geographical landscapes and climates so that the remote sensing technology can be tested for all conditions. The technology, if proven, will be a game-changer for hill country farming, especially when accompanied with Ravensdown s specially-modified planes operating computer-controlled hopper doors. He says that the precision map-driven variable fertiliser placement being developed outside of Ravensdown s PGP programme will bring the remote sensing technology full circle in its goal to deliver more sustainable and productive technology to New Zealand farmers. We ve been running the aerial spreading technology for nearly three years now and the efficiencies gained from this is already showing its value. Coupling the PGP programme s remote sensing technology that assesses soil fertility from the air with the GPS driven variable rate spreading with proof of placement, is game-changing for our hill country. 6
I see it as becoming part of the precision ag norm. Ben Todhunter, Rakaia 7
0800 100 123 ravensdown.co.nz V1017