As we get ready for planting on our home farm, I wanted to reach out directly and wish you a safe and prosperous 2018 growing season. I also wanted to remind you that May 1 is the AirScout deadline for getting your fields enrolled, and the date is fast approaching.

This cutoff date has two very important ramifications: 1) It ensures we get your fields entered into our flight route so you don’t miss any early season images. 2) It ensures you won’t lose access to any of your imagery from past seasons. This is extremely important as we continue to pivot toward building prescriptions, which takes you far beyond just scouting, and literally changes the way you farm.

Although I have over 20 years of yield history on our farm (and every soil test known to man), we now use our bare soil images exclusively to build our prescription planting maps.  I will also direct your attention to the photos below showing the last five seasons on one of our fields. Take a look at it, and you will understand why our entire nitrogen program now relies on the imagery.    No two seasons are the same — ever!  As I continue to learn, I am finding even more ways to turn the pictures into actionable items on our farm. I implore you to make sure you do not let your past imagery go to waste, as it will be extremely important in the future when we release new tools. I will continue to archive all fields that were enrolled over the past two years, but I simply can’t afford to hold any fields that have not been renewed since 2015.

If you need assistance getting fields renewed for 2018, getting your past imagery downloaded to your personal computers, or would like us to maintain your imagery on our server for a $1.00/acre/year maintenance fee, please contact me directly. If any of you need help building planting prescriptions from your past imagery, also please feel free to contact me or your provider.

I would like to thank you once again for learning and growing with me over the last seven years. It’s hard to believe how far we have come since the days when I delivered your imagery through Dropbox. As the only true Midwest “born and raised” precision ag imagery company that provides all aspects of image acquisition, processing, and delivery from a farmer-owned company and perspective, I encourage you to stay with me as we put imagery into action, and as we find even more ways to drive other management decisions.

Thank you for your past support, best wishes for the 2018 growing season, and most of all be safe out there!

Nitrogen Management by Prescription Zones

These are pictures of when the field just began to canopy, and are a precursor to the yield map. Note how different each year really is! So I ask you: how can you possibly have your nitrogen program already figured out prior to planting? With this knowledge, I can custom tailor my nitrogen prescriptions to each individual year — and you can, too.

Ask me how!   brian@44.203.6.26

Bare Soil Image Guides Prescription for Precision Planting

Look at the bare soil image on the left, and how you can clearly see the variable soil types and organic matter. We use the AirScout proprietary ADVI rendering to generate the zone map (right image), and then assign a desired prescription to each zone.  It’s that simple!  The reason those areas are darker and higher in organic matter is because they grew more stuff for at least the last 5000 years, and have already self-compensated for soil erosion. Kinda makes 20 years of yield history look pretty trivial! Don’t get wrapped up in the idea that more layers are better, or some computer knows this field better than you. This is the field God gave you. All you need to do is look down on it.

Let me show you how!

Brian Sutton
President/CEO, AirScout, Inc.
brian@44.203.6.26