An Integrated Decision Aid For Optimizing Tillage And Planting In The Blackland Prairie
| Name | Title | |
|---|---|---|
| Dr. Cristine Morgan | Project Leader | cmorgan@ag.tamu.edu |
| Dr. Gaylon Morgan | Project Leader | gmorgan@ag.tamu.edu |
| Christine Molling | Collaborator | cmolling@wisc.edu |
| Adam Helms | MS. Student | AHelms@ag.tamu.edu |
Summary:
Texas farms have become larger in order to maintain a profitable enterprise. With this increase in farm size, farmers own and rent land over a wide geographic area and are becoming less familiar with the land they farm. Decision-aid tools that assist the farmers in efficiently managing their larger enterprises are crucial to economic and environmental sustainability. The availability of decision-aid tools that address the within-field and real-time temporal variability is extremely limited. However, the potential to develop this type of decision-aid tools exists because of the existence of the Precision Agricultural-Landscape Modeling System (PALMS). PALMS simulates key hydrologic and biophysical processes at a scale of physical realism and spatio-temporal detail (spatially, 10- to 20-m resolution) sufficient to evaluate the physical consequences of specific cropping, tillage, and fertilizer management strategies (Molling et al., 2005).
We propose to develop PALMS for use in the high clay, high shrink-swell soil of the Texas Blackland Prairie, one of the most difficult to manage, yet productive soils in Texas. Timing the trafficking events (i.e. planting and tillage) has always been difficult for Blackland farmers because entering the field at the sub-optimum soil moisture content can negatively impact soil tilth and return on investment. The proposed decision-aid tool, the Blackland Prairie Trafficability Index (BTI) will be based on expert knowledge (experienced farmers) and integrated into PALMS, to create a decision support system that helps farmers coordinate tillage and planting for their many fields based on optimum soil moisture conditions. This decision-aid can be implemented relatively quickly, will be user friendly, and will increase the economic and environmental sustainability of the farmers in the Blacklands of Texas.
Supported by:
- John Deere Agri Services
For more Information on this project contact: Dr. Cristine Morgan cmorgan@ag.tamu.edu