Richard Phillips, left, with Will Henderson, center, and Ahmad Khaliian on the Phillips farm near Springfield. Phillips' planting rig, which was modified by Clemson scientists at Edisto REC, sits in the background.

DATE: 6/23/2006

CONTACT: Dr. Ahmad Khalilian, (803) 284-3343, ext. 230; akhlln@clemson.edu

Dr. John Mueller, (803) 284-3343, ext. 223; jmllr@clemson.edu

Will Henderson , (803) 284-3343, ext. 244; whende2@clemson.edu

Richard Phillips, (803) 308-4747

WRITER: Tom Lollis, (803) 284-3343, ext. 241; tlollis@clemson.edu

Clemson spreading variable rate nematicide applications to farm

BLACKVILLE – Clemson University scientists have developed a variable rate nematicide application system which will enable farmers to apply fewer chemicals to control nematodes in cotton, save money and protect water quality.

Clemson is demonstrating the technology on three South Carolina farms.

The site-specific nematicide placement (SNP) project is a two-year cooperative effort with the University of Arkansas, which will also place similar systems on three farms in that state, according to project director Ahmad Khalilian, agricultural engineer at Clemson University’s Edisto Research and Education Center at Blackville.

Richard Phillips, who farms approximately 1,000 acres near Springfield , was the first to have eight-row planting equipment modified by the precision agriculture team at Edisto REC – Khalilian, Extension associate Will Henderson and technician Richard Hallman.

“A year and a half ago I bought GPS equipment for spreading fertilizer and lime,” said Phillips. “Clemson then contacted me and asked if I wanted to get into a high technology project for variable rate nematicide application in cotton. I was very interested, because high-tech is where you save money.”

Phillips has traditionally applied a straight rate of 7-lbs. per acre of Temik to his cotton. That comes to around $2,100 for nematicide on the 100-acre field where SNP is being demonstrated.

He figures he will cut his nematicide bill by at least 25 percent, maybe more, using new Gandy nematicide hoppers adapted for site-specific application.

Khalilian has divided Phillips’ field into three zones. In each Temik was applied the farmer’s conventional way and with variable rates based on GPS mapping of soil types as measured with a piece of equipment called the Veris 3100. It shows the exact location of light, sandy soils and heavier, organic soils.

Nematodes have their environmental preferences. Columbia lance, which is the problem nematode in the Phillips field, likes sandy soils.

“Veris seems to very accurately map the soil types that we correlate highly with where Columbia lance occurs,” said John Mueller, Clemson nematologist at Edisto REC and SNP team member.

“At least 70 percent of our fields in South Carolina need a nematicide of some sort,” he said. The Veris system, which uses electrical conductivity to identify soil textures, can take 200 electrical samples per acre.

“The best anyone could do before is a grid of a half-acre size,” Mueller said. “If you had a 20-acre field, you’d have 40 soil samples to analyze at $10 each, which puts you $400 into your nematode program up front.”

He said a Veris soil texture map will cost $5 per acre. It’s good for a long time and the farmer has multiple uses for it – planning irrigation, fertilizer and lime applications and estimating yield potentials. Veris mapping is already available commercially through Thomas Agri Crop Management in Denmark and others will soon offer the service.

Clemson researchers have developed good information on Columbia lance.

“We need, and are developing, better information on reniform and root-knot nematodes, which will be essential to a fully mature SNP system for growers,” Mueller said. He expects the system to be used on “quite a few acres” within four or five years.

“In the Phillips field demonstration plots we have a zero rate of nematicide and then 3, 5 and 7 lbs.,” said Henderson . “The zero rate is our control. It will show us just what effect nematodes are having on yields. We have three soil types in this field – a sandy zone, a medium loamy soil and our heavier zone.”

Henderson said the sandier zone received the heaviest rate of Temik since the nematodes are more active there. The lowest rates went in the heavier, clay areas.

Six times during the growing season the Clemson scientists will take 4-foot soil cores from each treatment to send to the Clemson Environmental Toxicology Laboratory for analysis of any Temik movement into groundwater. They will also pull soil samples to monitor nematode populations.

GPS-based yield monitors mounted on cotton pickers at harvest should give a clear correlation between nematicide application rates and yields throughout the field.

Khalilian said that equipment was also modified for Ray Crapse of Hampton County . Clemson is also working with Travis Still of Blackville.

Plots have been placed on 30-acre fields of cotton on each farm.

Total cost for modification of equipment for variable rate nematicide application can range from $6,000 to $10,000, according to Khalilian. That includes hoppers, the GPS receiver and controller. Each farmer taking part in the project paid approximately 25 percent of the cost of conversion.

The project is funded by a $322,672 federal Conservation Innovation Grant from the Natural Resource Conservation Service of USDA and matching funds that bring the total cost to $649,490.

Other Clemson scientists taking part in the project are: Young Han, agricultural engineer; and Stephen Klaine and Elizabeth Carraway, environmental toxicologists.

Team members at Arkansas include Terry Kirkpatrick and Scott Monfort.

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