Nebraska On Farm Research – Farmers’ Value of Participation

University of Nebraska – Lincoln Author

08/31/2020 Added

14 Plays

Description

Dr. Ron Seymour takes a look at the ON farm research program and interviews two participants who share what this has meant to their operations.
Feedback form

Searchable Transcript

Search:

[00:00:11.090]Well, I'm Dr. Ron Seymour
[00:00:13.010]and I work with University of Nebraska
[00:00:15.710]in Nebraska extension I'm located in the
[00:00:19.170]extension office in Hastings,
[00:00:20.820]which is Adams County.
[00:00:21.870]And, I work in the Cropping Systems area.
[00:00:25.090]So today I want to talk about on-farm research
[00:00:28.480]and why that's really important for farmers.
[00:00:31.050]And,
[00:00:32.140]you know, there there's a lot of things that
[00:00:34.740]we do out in crop fields or in livestock that
[00:00:39.510]have the basis of research
[00:00:41.720]to let us know how to improve the kinds of things that we do
[00:00:46.530]so that we can simply get better over time.
[00:00:49.300]And if we hadn't been doing this,
[00:00:50.960]there'd be a,
[00:00:51.980]we would be way back in the thirties when we were
[00:00:55.360]still plowing everything,
[00:00:57.300]listing, doing things that caused a lot of dust,
[00:01:00.170]a lot of problems and lower yields.
[00:01:02.050]Well,
[00:01:02.883]by applying some simple principles,
[00:01:05.090]we can do these projects where
[00:01:08.220]we can learn what actually works in a farmer's own field.
[00:01:12.450]So a lot of the research projects that we do,
[00:01:14.720]they start with university,
[00:01:16.440]a scientist,
[00:01:17.300]or industry scientist doing the treatments,
[00:01:22.000]or trying to find out new information in small plots
[00:01:26.500]and they do those small plots
[00:01:29.010]'cause they can control what they're doing
[00:01:31.730]and get reliable results that then can be published.
[00:01:35.740]So it's a great place to start,
[00:01:37.500]but,
[00:01:38.550]we need to be able to transfer that information
[00:01:42.000]to a large production field.
[00:01:44.320]And there are some differences.
[00:01:46.430]And we're just hoping that what we found in a small plot
[00:01:50.220]will actually work in a large field the same way.
[00:01:53.280]Well,
[00:01:54.113]we have to test it.
[00:01:54.970]We have to see does it really work
[00:01:57.460]for, in a large field and for a particular farmer because
[00:02:01.970]every farm is different.
[00:02:03.670]The land's different,
[00:02:04.630]their management operations are different,
[00:02:06.180]the irrigation or whether you have rainfall,
[00:02:08.850]that all makes a difference.
[00:02:10.350]And so to test a product or a technique
[00:02:14.840]out in your own field is just crucial
[00:02:17.220]to seeing whether it works or not.
[00:02:18.990]Now, I remember long time ago,
[00:02:20.250]we used to do that with a single row out there,
[00:02:22.730]or you do half the field and
[00:02:25.550]that's okay to start out with,
[00:02:27.370]but it really doesn't tell you what you need to know
[00:02:30.700]because, there is a lot of variability in the world
[00:02:35.330]and particularly variability in the field.
[00:02:37.860]There's differences in soil,
[00:02:39.840]differences in how irrigation water is applied
[00:02:43.860]and difference in plants.
[00:02:45.490]And so we have to try to account for those.
[00:02:48.010]And the way you do that is you
[00:02:50.550]randomly assign treatments in a field.
[00:02:53.850]And then you replicate these treatments.
[00:02:56.860]And replication means doing one or two treatments
[00:03:00.560]multiple times through a field.
[00:03:02.940]And that way you can see what's really going on.
[00:03:06.310]And the randomization is so important because
[00:03:08.520]we want to be able to,
[00:03:11.300]not have to deal with any
[00:03:14.500]the variability that's out there,
[00:03:16.370]or if we have some areas that
[00:03:19.050]consistently change across field,
[00:03:21.030]we can deal with that.
[00:03:23.010]And so very easy to randomize.
[00:03:25.370]I mean, you can either use
[00:03:26.850]a random number table or simply flip a coin,
[00:03:30.630]and then you can decide,
[00:03:32.770]okay, treatment A here,
[00:03:34.410]treatment B here compared to the untreated control.
[00:03:37.630]And those are all important.
[00:03:38.990]And then when it comes to replication,
[00:03:41.700]at least one replicant.
[00:03:43.840]But much better to do four to six
[00:03:46.510]so that when we go to do some statistical analysis,
[00:03:51.820]which will help us to find and take care of that variation,
[00:03:55.630]we can tell the differences between the treatments
[00:03:58.540]that we have out there.
[00:03:59.950]And so put those out there,
[00:04:02.900]work with your local extension educator
[00:04:05.640]or extension specialist,
[00:04:06.770]and they can help design the experiment for you
[00:04:10.470]so that we can set this up in a way that's
[00:04:13.720]easy for you as the farmer to put it out,
[00:04:16.810]and then for the scientists to take data
[00:04:19.440]and to analyze that data, so that
[00:04:22.000]when we get all done,
[00:04:23.170]we have some meaningful results.
[00:04:25.930]Now I mentioned earlier about
[00:04:28.240]just doing a single row out there.
[00:04:29.740]No, we want full length field,
[00:04:33.790]full passes of a piece of equipment.
[00:04:36.410]Particularly if you're doing a planting study,
[00:04:38.110]say you have a 24-row planter,
[00:04:41.370]well, you can do 12 rows on one treatment
[00:04:43.430]and 12 rows on another treatment.
[00:04:45.500]And with modern equipment today,
[00:04:47.270]it's pretty easy to switch back and forth
[00:04:49.380]between those treatments,
[00:04:50.770]so that you can do your replication and randomization
[00:04:53.850]just fine, GPS works really well
[00:04:57.060]to help us to find where these different treatments are.
[00:05:00.470]And we use things like field flags,
[00:05:02.650]so that when you're on the ground,
[00:05:04.080]you can see those and know what they are.
[00:05:07.030]And,
[00:05:08.820]so as you get these set up,
[00:05:10.580]get them put out,
[00:05:11.930]usually in the spring time,
[00:05:13.150]we do a lot of different studies like planning studies,
[00:05:16.860]product treatment studies,
[00:05:20.460]just there's all anything that you have in mind
[00:05:23.210]that you would wanna test for your field,
[00:05:25.380]we can figure out a study on how to do that.
[00:05:28.060]And,
[00:05:29.100]so, you get it set up,
[00:05:31.000]your university educator or specialist
[00:05:33.820]will help you get it set up,
[00:05:34.950]help you put it out in the field,
[00:05:36.570]and then maybe take some interim data through the summer
[00:05:39.630]so that, or through the growing season,
[00:05:41.520]so that we can get some points of reference
[00:05:44.930]as to what might've happened and why
[00:05:47.320]at the end of the season.
[00:05:48.320]And then the last thing that's really important
[00:05:50.930]to take is the yield.
[00:05:52.580]We wanna look at did it make an economic difference for you
[00:05:56.360]through the yield.
[00:05:57.350]And,
[00:05:58.600]with a well calibrated yield monitor,
[00:06:01.880]it's really simple to do that.
[00:06:03.400]You just take a pass of the middle of the treatment
[00:06:05.830]and then record what the yield was.
[00:06:08.080]Now, if you don't have a yield monitor,
[00:06:09.910]we have a solution for that too.
[00:06:11.650]You can go out there,
[00:06:12.640]we can collect some samples
[00:06:14.580]and then with the combine,
[00:06:16.770]and then we can use a weigh wagon to see what the yield was.
[00:06:21.950]So you take all that data
[00:06:24.640]and then you take your economic input data,
[00:06:27.690]and then we'll analyze it in a laboratory on a computer,
[00:06:31.680]and come back with some results that will tell us,
[00:06:35.120]was there a significant difference
[00:06:36.890]between treatment A and treatment B or treatment C
[00:06:40.150]depending on how many that you have set up,
[00:06:42.460]and then we can report that to you as the farmer,
[00:06:45.950]and then you'll know whether that was a good thing or not.
[00:06:49.230]And then we'll also have an opportunity for a,
[00:06:54.030]we'll go out to have a meeting where
[00:06:57.330]you can meet with a lot of other farmers
[00:06:59.340]who have done the same types of on-farm research
[00:07:02.060]and discuss what the results are.
[00:07:04.420]And finally, we'll publish those results in a report booklet
[00:07:08.530]that then you can refer back to later
[00:07:10.560]and you can look at other people's research results
[00:07:13.910]so that you can try that on your field
[00:07:16.730]using these on-farm research techniques.
[00:07:19.510]And so to do it well,
[00:07:21.430]it's not hard,
[00:07:22.610]but it's important so that
[00:07:24.440]you can get good reliable results,
[00:07:26.830]so you can tell if it's worked on your farm,
[00:07:29.760]in your situation,
[00:07:31.020]so that'll make you more money.
[00:07:33.390]You know, I've been involved with,
[00:07:34.690]we've been involved with on-farm research now for
[00:07:36.700]a number of years all the way back when it was Quad County
[00:07:40.040]Research Group and have stayed with it ever since,
[00:07:42.710]and always fun to try different things
[00:07:44.500]and see what we can learn,
[00:07:45.850]see what products are out there,
[00:07:47.520]what different farming operations
[00:07:51.369]we can utilize our own operation.
[00:07:54.770]It's definitely one of those things
[00:07:55.670]we'll keep doing in the future
[00:07:56.660]because we see a lot of value in a lot of value of
[00:07:59.210]collaborating with other farmers
[00:08:00.590]and having the university involved to make sure that
[00:08:02.310]we've got good, solid data moving forward.
[00:08:04.840]Yes and that's probably one of the best educations
[00:08:07.810]I got from doing this lots of times,
[00:08:10.780]there's different suppliers and companies
[00:08:14.510]that will advertise certain results from products, and
[00:08:19.810]they're not always probably done in a manner that
[00:08:24.380]will replicate their,
[00:08:26.590]what they would call their testable plots,
[00:08:29.160]done in a manner that's probably reliable.
[00:08:31.990]You know, there've been some things that
[00:08:32.890]we've learned that,
[00:08:34.470]you know, you go all the way back to
[00:08:36.230]when we did some original planting speed studies that,
[00:08:39.690]that we found out that when you put
[00:08:40.950]other pieces of equipment on your planter,
[00:08:43.010]like seed farmers, that it helps
[00:08:46.020]mitigate some of the risk of
[00:08:47.240]if you're deciding to plant faster, you know,
[00:08:49.140]some of the products that
[00:08:50.600]were promised to work over the years,
[00:08:52.100]especially on soybeans that
[00:08:53.690]didn't pan out quite like they said
[00:08:55.100]and some other products that
[00:08:56.530]that we figured out did work on our own operations
[00:08:58.870]and any of those things that we can utilize
[00:09:02.690]cost-effectively on the farm have always been good.
[00:09:05.457]And it's fun to see what works in some areas of the state
[00:09:07.530]and then what doesn't work in some areas.
[00:09:11.580]If there's an issue that I wanted to test
[00:09:15.040]something I wanna know if a certain product pays to use,
[00:09:18.640]if it helps or not,
[00:09:20.180]then I can do that and get some valuable expertise and
[00:09:24.650]in being able to test it in a way that
[00:09:27.180]I can rely on the results that I find.
[00:09:31.800]So if you'd like more information about this,
[00:09:33.970]go to the on-farm research site and
[00:09:38.210]it's on this, the URL is on the screen and
[00:09:41.220]there's all kinds of results there
[00:09:42.990]that you could look for this year and from previous years.

The screen size you are trying to search captions on is too small!

You can always jump over to MediaHub and check it out there.

Comments

0 Comments

Nebraska On Farm Research – Farmers’ Value of Participation

Description

Searchable Transcript

Comments icon comment

Related Channels

Comments