Nebraska is commonly known as the fly-over state. What many people from other regions do not realize is the innovation and creativity Nebraskans possess, especially farmers.
Aerial travelers this summer got a great surprise if they flew over Cuming County – a 50-acre N showcased in a soybean field.
A tribute to the Cornhusker state, this symbol actually serves a practical purpose as an experiment called “multi-row spacing prescription” conducted by Brune Farms south of Dodge, Nebraska.
Rick and Peg Brune and their two sons, Broc and Jake, farm in Dodge, Cuming and Colfax counties. They also raise finisher hogs.
Jake Brune wrote the prescription map for the varying row widths. He works as an agronomist and is co-owner of Brick Street Precision Ag in Dodge, which has been a Precision Planting dealer for about 10 years.
Jake Brune wrote the prescription map on the computer. The red shows 15-inch row spacing and the green is 30-inch row spacing.
“We do a lot of different trials with our customers, and there’s always big talk of narrow versus wide width soybean rows. Until you test side-by-side in a field, you don’t really know,” Jake said.
At Brune Farms, they have seen 2-3 bushel per acre advantage by planting 15 inch rows. With the closer row-width, soybeans seem to canopy better and provide erosion control and weed suppression, said Broc Brune.
However, certain zones are prone to fungal disease; 30-inch rows allow more air flow for disease management.
“White mold is a huge yield dropper, potentially robbing over half the yields in certain areas, then it actually overwinters in the soil for several years,” said Jake.
Jake has formulated variable-rate prescriptions for customers in the past, but not different row-widths.
The N design was a creative way to see if the technology and premise behind multiple spacing was possible.
Precision Planting electric drive meters on the Brunes’ Kinze 16/31 planter allowed front and rear rows to be shut off according to the prescription, which had been uploaded on a USB drive and downloaded onto the Precision Planting monitor in the tractor.
The Brunes have used Precision Planting equipment on the planter for the past four seasons. Even though Rick typically does the planting, Broc operated the tractor during the test.
The split-row Kinze 16/31 planter allowed the Brunes to space rows 15 and 30 inches apart “on the fly.”
“We didn’t know how changing planting configurations on the fly would work,” Broc said. “Dad decided I better take over for the day.”
Despite a few software-related kinks, the experiment proved successful.
The entire field was planted with one soybean hybrid variety at 140,000 population. The only variation was inter-planting 15-inch rows within the N design.
Jake is confident that the concept of multi-row widths can be utilized by other producers to mitigate damage from fungal disease. Precision Planting has a portfolio of products suited for addressing different challenges, from downforce to meter performance to anything related with the seed trench and its creation.
“The goal with technology is to ease decision making, but most of all be more profitable,” said Jake. “There’s no shortage of ways to spend money on technology, but I feel what sets us apart is our expertise and ability to help growers choose which products can yield the biggest return on investment.”
The Brunes plan to tailor multi-row prescription planting on more fields next year, both for practicality and fun.
“We have had a whole bunch of requests from people to do another design and have a couple of fields picked out,” said Broc.
If you get a chance to fly next year, be on the lookout for artwork in a field in the northeast corner of Nebraska where the Brunes farm. You will see the future of precision ag in the fields below.
