The Results

Using Skippy Scout

135 kg/ha of Nitrogen

£94.50 per hectare

Using RB209
220 kg/ha of Nitrogen
£154 per hectare

View the Report

NITROGEN SAVING USING SKIPPY SCOUT

Last season, Andrew managed to save one of his farmers £60 per ha in one field of OSR by using Skippy Scout. He did this by doing some soil mineral nitrogen tests to find out the true value of the nitrogen that was left in the soil by the previous crop. He then used Skippy Scout to get the GAI values from the crop at different points in the field. These could then be used to apply nitrogen variably or could be used to create an average application for the whole field.

In this instance Andrew created an average application for the farmer to apply to each field due to Skippy Scouts “Crop Uniformity” reading. This reading gives growers an insight into how evenly their crop is growing and if variable rate is in fact needed or whether an average is sufficient. In this instance the crop uniformity was 91%.

Skippy Scouts crop-only GAI readings, run through Andrews Agrii N calculator, gave a recommended total rate of £154/ha, giving savings of over £60/ha versus RB209 SNS 1 recommendations. Crop yield was still close to average at 3.46 tonnes/ha.

*based on average Nitrogen prices in 2022

85

Nitrogen Saved

60

Saved

3.46

Average Yield

Other benefits of Skippy

  • Skippy flights are 10 times quicker compared to field walking
  • Reports are delivered to the user’s inbox in 10 minutes
  • Reports are actionable with only relevant metrics
  • No conflict with cloud cover
  • High-resolution images allow for the separation of crop and weeds for accurate, crop-only GAI readings

Andrews Calculations

  • The Soil Mineral Nitrogen value after soil tests = 50kg/ha

  • Skippy Scout GAI average for the field = 1.48

  • Nitrogen already in the crop = 74kg/ha

  • Nitrogen required for optimum canopy (GAI 3.5) = 175 kg/ha

  • Nitrogen deficit = 51kg/ha

  • Medium soils produce a 60% efficiency for standard yield nitrogen.
  • Therefore changing the required nitrogen to reach deficit to 85 kg/ha if aiming for a yield of 3.5 tonne per ha.
  • The aim for this field however was to hit 4 tonnes per ha yield.
  • This requires an extra 50 kg/ha bringing the total spring application to 85 kg + 50 kg = 135 kg/ha.

  • Final applied amount = 135kg/ha

  • Nitrogen cost = £700/t or £94.50/ha

  • 3.71 ha field = £350.60

  • Field savings compared to RB209 recommendation using Skippy Scout’s GAI Metric £221 over 3.71 ha

  • 40% cost savings when using Skippy Scout equating to savings of £60/ha.