See how farmers employee technology to precisely apply the nutrients crops need reducing costs and increasing yields. Gypsum reduces soil erosion and sediment runoff keeping nutrients where farmers need them. In the field for crops to utilize.
2. Gypsum: What’s Old is New Again?
Gypsum mortar on the
Pyramids
Over 200 years ago Ben
Franklin used gypsum “land
plaster”
Expensive to mine and
transport so the practice was
abandoned
Reclaiming drywall gypsum
headed for landfills provides
a source
$100 Bill
3. U.S Policy Impact
Clean Air Act Requires SO2
Reductions
Coal power plants inject lime to
Scrub sulfur dioxide
Uses lots of lime & produces gypsum
Cheap natural gas reduces coal use
More Air Regulations
Less coal burned = less gypsum
Clean air = farmers purchase sulfur
Gypsum Transport
4. Policy and Sulfur – Unintended Consequences
Sulfur is an essential ingredient for creating proteins, so
high-protein crops (alfalfa, soybean, corn silage) require
more sulfur than low-protein producing crops.
5. Drywall Gypsum – Faster Acting
Gypsum is 2 molecules of
crystalline (dry) water & 1 of
calcium sulfate
Converted to plaster of paris by
grinding and heating to remove
75% of its water
Plaster is rehydrated to slurry
Air entrained - 50% air
Corn starch “glue” to paper
6. Heavy Metals? 17 Years of History
Exceeds Clean Fill Requirements
7. Damp Ag Gypsum
19% Calcium
14% Sulfate
0.4% Mag
0.01% Boron
15-19% Moisture
Particle size 5/8”
minus
9. Gypsum Spreading
Pull Type Lime and
Litter Spreader
Pequea SP 550
Load Cells
Large Working Width
Floatation Tires Less
Compaction
Custom Spreading
10. GPS Field Application
Mapping
Precise Mapping For
Even Spread
Automatic Shut Off for
a Preset Percentage of
Overlap
Record Boundary For
Prescription
Speed and Working
Time
11. Variable Rate Control
Test plot with different
rates
Load cells allow controller
to adjust web flow for
speed variations
Pre-start function allows
web to feed material to
spinners until speed
obtained
Great record for Harvest
information
13. Harvest Mapping
The most important
information is your
harvest data. It will show
how your crop performed.
Allowing you to
concentrate on problem
areas and justify your
investments.
Field Harvest Data with
two similar field
elevations and soil
variables.
16. Calcium lbs. Per Acre – Optimum 2,000 to 5,000
Soil Tests taken on
Nov. 21, 2015
Fields 12-13 No Gypsum
Average – 4,581
Lowest – 4,255
Highest – 5,302
Fields 17-18D
Average – 2,365
Lowest – 1,781
Highest – 2,604
Soil Tests taken on
Jan. 4, 2017
Fields 12-13 No Gypsum
Average – 6,290
Lowest – 5,118
Highest – 7,727
Fields 17-18D
Average – 3,284
Lowest – 2,759
Highest – 3,666
17. Sulfur Parts per Million – Optimum 15 to 25
Soil Tests taken on
Nov. 21, 2015
Fields 12-13 No Gypsum
Average – 14.42
Lowest – 10.70
Highest – 16.82
Fields 17-18D
Average – 10.44
Lowest – 8.94
Highest – 11.84
Soil Tests taken on
Jan. 4, 2017
Fields 12-13 No Gypsum
Average – 11.44
Lowest – 6.84
Highest – 12.88
Fields 17-18D
Average – 20.99
Lowest – 12.73
Highest – 34.2
18. Yield Results 2016 Corn Harvest
Fields 12-13 No Gypsum
Average – 137
Lowest – 56
Highest – 217
$603 Revenue per acre
at $4.40 per bushel
Fields 17-18D
Average – 153
Lowest – 71
Highest – 255
$673 Revenue per acre
at $4.40 per bushel
It does not take much to pull
your Yield Average down!
19. When all Nutrients are at
Optimum Levels…
Crops Yield More
Crops Handle
Growing Season
Stress Better
20. Test for Micronutrients
Only test for those you will manage.
For Corn-
Sulfur
Zinc
Boron
For Soybeans-
• Sulfur
• Zinc
• Boron
• Manganese
25. Aerial Imagery from an Airplane
1 photo covers 1 sq. mile
3 images acquired
Advanced Digital Vegetation
Index
Visual Image – 12 inch
resolution
Thermal Image – detects
temperature variations to
3/100th of a degree Celsius
27. Thermal Imagery
reads relative plant
temperature
Plants under stress
appear as warmer,
like having a “fever”
28. This Technology Will Detect Developing Crop
Problems Several Weeks in Advance
Insects
Disease
Weed
Pressure
29. What This Technology Delivers to You…
Early Crop
Stress Warning
Plant Growth
and Health
Indications
More Time for
Action
The Ability for
Prescription
Spraying
33. Aerial Images acquired every 2 weeks
during the growing season
Images delivered within 24 hours
after acquisition
10 flights or 5 flights throughout
the growing season
Cost per Acre – Less than a Custom
Applied Fungicide Application
Clean air, water & gypsum
Scrubbers installed to meet clean air act
Total Maximum Daily Load (TMDL)
Countless research over 20 years supports E&S and P control