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Precision saves $25,000
The Farmer/Dakota Farmer
Written By: Lon Tonneson
April 2002, pg. 6
 Gary Wagner, Crookston, Minn. - one of the nation’s often-quoted farmer experts in precision agriculture - says he and his brothers, Wayne and Daryl, saved over $25,000 last year in fertilizer and herbicide inputs on their 4,000-acre grain and sugarbeet farm due to precision agriculture technology.
Using yield maps, satellite images, aerial photos and variable-rate application technology, they cut fertilizer costs by putting nutrients on only where they were needed. They trimmed herbicide costs by mapping certain weeds, such as wild oats, quackgrass, and Canada thistle, and applying herbicide only where the weeds grew. They also reduced losses caused by wet regions within the field by improving field drainage.
“There’s no doubt precision agriculture makes a difference,” Wagner says.
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