Update:
Project Status - We identified and established this experiment on two farm fields in IA that contained profitable and unprofitable subfields. The data collected included plant populations, disease and insect damage ratings, NDVI calculations, and yield. We then analyzed results to determine whether any treatment tested (seed population, seed treatment, or foliar fungicide application) had an effect on yield in either subfield.
Preliminary data analysis for yield suggests that under the IA environmental conditions of 2017, increasing seed populations increased yields at both IA locations. It most instances, yields were similar between high- and low-profit subfields. The subfield profitability only had an effect on yield at one location, where it interacted with seed treatments. At this location, there was no effect of seed treatment on yield in the high profit subfield, while in the low profit subfield portion the insecticide + fungicide treatment increased yields over that of the control or a fungicide-only seed treatment.
Did this project meet the intended Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)? List each KPI and describe progress made (or not made) toward addressing it, including metrics where appropriate.
None of the KPIs have been met yet, as these data are only for the first season of the experiment.
Expected Outputs/Deliverables -
1. Reports of harvest data will be collected by December 2017 and sent to AgSolver for analysis. Reports are being analyzed at Iowa State University instead.
2. Management strategies will be analyzed within each state, field, and subfield to develop recommendations for specific subfield characteristics. Data analysis is currently in progress for the first year.
3. Recommendations for specific targeted management subfields will be developed from information gathered from field trials to improve best management practices for soybean fields. Additional years and locations are needed to generate subfield BMPs in soybean fields.
4. Pest incidence and severity measurements will be collected at the subfield level. These data have been collected for the first year.
5. Fact sheets will be produced, ag media will be contacted and co-PIs will work with AgSolver to develop a worksheet for IPM treatments. Data analysis is underway. Preliminary results can then be shared, but additional trials are needed before fact sheets, etc., will be produced.
Due to unexpected challenges in finding farmers willing to enroll in this project, this experiment was only conducted a single state (IA). However, additional related work was performed in IA, WI, and SD (four locations in each state) to test the effects of seed populations and seed treatments on disease presence and yield.
Ideally, this experiment would be expanded into additional states and conducted over several years in order to increase the broadness and the power of the results.
As this the first year of an experiment that was anticipated to last three years, no additional performance metrics are currently available.