The initial surge of interest in precision agriculture technologies exhibited by innovators and early adopters involved in crop production appears to have crossed over an important threshold and made a significant development. As valuable field experience increases and learning by doing advances, successful applications of management practices are being identified. Access to accurate information pertaining to practical applications of site-specific management would be expected to motivate more producers to incorporate technology uses with crop production. This next group of producers has been watching technology developments as they preferred to avoid risk and wait for identifiable benefits. Waiting for detailed case studies involving high value fruit and vegetables may be the wrong approach to take. Fierce competition and strict confidentiality are expected, especially in the fresh-market industry that places quality attributes high on the list of desired features. Practical applications of technology that pertain to manageable factors will be the impetus to implementation of site-specific management. High resolution remote sensing imagery from digital aerial and satellite sensors has been used to identify plant stress, direct plant tissue and soil sampling efforts to identifiable soil variability, and provide valuable information for analysis and interpretation of crop growth. Examples of remote sensing imagery that has provided valuable in season progress reports will be identified. Imagery can then be used in a geographic information system along with field maps based on soil properties and physical characteristics determined by on-the-go tractors using various sensors. The focus will be on practice, not theory, as seen from an industry perspective.
648 Practical Applications of Site-specific Management—An Industry Perspective
