When Tim Norris of Gambier, Ohio, collects field and crop information across the 830 acres that he farms, he gathers 250,000 data points. 

“Track everything,” Norris says, noting those 250,000 data points transform yield maps to profit maps. 

Norris, named an Ohio Master Farmer, no-tills corn, soybeans, wheat, sunflowers and an 8-species cover crop mix in Knox County, considered by many the no-till capital of the world. He also formerly owned a precision agriculture business, Ag Info Tech, through which he worked with more than 800 farmers over the years. 

He starts by setting field boundaries with differential GPS. From there, he marks soil type and adds elevation with a LIDAR model. He analyzes terrain with maps that show arrows in the direction of surface water flow.  

“If you see all the arrows pointing into one spot, you know that has a good chance of drowning out, and you need to drain it,” Norris says. 

Yield Analysis 

Next, Norris analyzes yield. He says he doesn’t like to only evaluate based on soil type because within one soil type, he sees high and low yielding areas in his fields. He adds other factors measured with techniques like grid sampling. 

Norris likes using a crop’s average across 10 years to create a map that leads to the coefficient of variation, which shows whether yield is stable or variable.  

Track everything…

This map, combined with the terrain analysis, can be seen in 3-D. On his farm, Norris says lower-yielding areas are higher in elevation, while higher-yielding areas are at lower elevations that may have gathered more water. 

These maps help when analyzing new seed hybrids and varieties, and Norris suggests adding singulation to every report. 

“If you have a ton of data, you can back up and see what you’re looking at,” Norris says. “Sometimes, you can find things about the data that you might want to reconsider.” 

Once Norris has a terrain analysis, he creates a layer that includes the following information:  

• Field Management (tillage practice, cover crop and headland status) 

• Soil (type, phosphorus, potassium, pH, Bph, CEC and OM) 

• Planting (planting date, variety, population, singulation, row starter and row starter rate) 

• Application (total nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium) 

• Harvest (harvest date, dry yield and moisture) 

• Weather (Growing degree days from planting date to harvest date as well as rainfall for April through October) 

 From there, Norris creates a map with four planting zones so that he can use variable-rate planting. He and his seed representative choose the best hybrid and set the appropriate rate for each zone. For example, in lower yielding areas of one field, he’ll plant 31,600 seeds per acre, while in higher yielding area of that same field, he’ll plant 34,000 seeds per acre.  

“We saved seed in the variable rate plan,” Norris says. “When you look at the bushels per acre, we were 164.3 bushels per acre with the 34,000 seeds, and we were 177 bushels per acre with the 31,000 seeds. By planting less, we actually increased our yield.” 

Profit Maps 

Using the yield maps, Norris can create profit maps. Every cost is included in this map, from the data he’s already gathered to equipment payments and interest. The profit of individual areas in the field can be determined, and those numbers can be combined for an overall field profit.

“I can look at my average profit by soil type based over time, and then I can start to try to figure out what the potential of that farm is, based on the soil types that are in that farm,” Norris says. “It also helps me find and identify areas that I shouldn’t be farming.” 

Norris says the numbers from the profit map help him decide areas that can be placed in the Conservation Reserve Program or simply be set aside. The profit map can also contribute to rent discussions. 

“If I have a landlord that feels the rent is too low, I can use the history and show them kind of a baseline,” Norris says. “That helps take that, ‘Well, I know my neighbor’s getting more,’ out of the equation.”