From the Producer’s Perspective:
We identified a low yielding area approximately 5 ac in size in a 58 ac field from cotton yield maps created during
2003 and 2005 (Figure 5). After the 2005 growing season, we decided to take this area out of production (Figure
5) and apply chicken litter and gin trash to it for four years. The area was also planted to grass. We also used the
yield maps to develop a variable rate corn seeding map for the field (Figure 6). For variable rate seeding, we use
three rates (25,000, 27,000 and 29,000 seeds/ac) and plant fewer seeds in areas with lower yields and more seeds
in areas with higher yields. Our normal seeding rate is 26,000 seeds/ac. We brought the 5 ac area back into production
during 2010. The 2010 corn yield map (Figure 6) shows that most of the 5 ac area produced about the
same yield as the rest of the field. The field was in cotton during 2011 but we were not able to collect yield data.