IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/agisys/v103y2010i7p478-485.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Optimal site-specific fertilization and harvesting strategies with respect to crop yield and quality response to nitrogen

Author

Listed:
  • Meyer-Aurich, Andreas
  • Weersink, Alfons
  • Gandorfer, Markus
  • Wagner, Peter

Abstract

Incorrect fertilizer decisions can be costly if quality of the output, in addition to yield, is influenced by the application rate, which contrasts the flat payoff function estimated for fertilizer by previous studies focusing only on quantity. This study aims at modelling economic potentials of the combination of site-specific fertilization and quality specific harvesting at the example of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), in Germany. Crop yield and protein response data to different nitrogen fertilizer applications were used from 15 locations to simulate site-specific wheat management. Four different management strategies were compared using a step wise price function for wheat qualities: uniform management, completely separate management, site-specific fertilization with uniform harvest, uniform fertilization with quality-specific harvest. It was found that opportunity costs (>50Â [euro]/ha) may apply, if threshold values for crop qualities are missed. Separation of different qualities can reduce this risk and create incentives for producing higher qualities on heterogeneous fields. Completely separate management had an economic advantage of up to 30Â [euro]/ha for the gross revenue, while site-specific fertilization alone had only marginal economic effects. However, these advantages have to cover costs for the use of technologies used, to be economically preferable.

Suggested Citation

  • Meyer-Aurich, Andreas & Weersink, Alfons & Gandorfer, Markus & Wagner, Peter, 2010. "Optimal site-specific fertilization and harvesting strategies with respect to crop yield and quality response to nitrogen," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 103(7), pages 478-485, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:103:y:2010:i:7:p:478-485
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0308-521X(10)00060-0
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Gandorfer, Markus & Rajsic, Predrag, 2008. "Modeling Economic Optimum Nitrogen Rates for Winter Wheat When Inputs Affect Yield and Output-Price," Agricultural Economics Review, Greek Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 9(2).
    2. David J. Pannell, 2006. "Flat Earth Economics: The Far-reaching Consequences of Flat Payoff Functions in Economic Decision Making," Review of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 28(4), pages 553-566.
    3. Rajsic, Predrag & Weersink, Alfons, 2008. "Do farmers waste fertilizer? A comparison of ex post optimal nitrogen rates and ex ante recommendations by model, site and year," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 97(1-2), pages 56-67, April.
    4. Neil R. Miller, 2006. "Is Site-Specific Yield Response Consistent over Time? Does It Pay?," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 88(2), pages 471-483.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Silvia Macchia, 2022. "Unbundling the information needs of new-generation agricultural companies," MANAGEMENT CONTROL, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2022(2 Suppl.), pages 117-141.
    2. Klaus Moeltner & A. Ford Ramsey & Clinton L. Neill, 2021. "Bayesian Kinked Regression with Unobserved Thresholds: An Application to the von Liebig Hypothesis," American Journal of Agricultural Economics, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 103(5), pages 1832-1856, October.
    3. Andreas Meyer-Aurich & Jørgen Olesen & Annette Prochnow & Reiner Brunsch, 2013. "Greenhouse gas mitigation with scarce land: The potential contribution of increased nitrogen input," Mitigation and Adaptation Strategies for Global Change, Springer, vol. 18(7), pages 921-932, October.
    4. Remble, Amber & Britz, Wolfgang & Keeney, Roman, 2013. "Farm Level Tradeoffs in the Regulation of Greenhouse Gas Emissions," 2013 Annual Meeting, August 4-6, 2013, Washington, D.C. 150442, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    5. Johannes Munz & Heinrich Schuele, 2022. "Influencing the Success of Precision Farming Technology Adoption—A Model-Based Investigation of Economic Success Factors in Small-Scale Agriculture," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(11), pages 1-21, October.
    6. Pedersen, Michael Friis & Gyldengren, Jacob Glerup & Pedersen, Søren Marcus & Diamantopoulos, Efstathios & Gislum, René & Styczen, Merete Elisabeth, 2021. "A simulation of variable rate nitrogen application in winter wheat with soil and sensor information - An economic feasibility study," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 192(C).
    7. Saikai, Yuji & Patel, Vivak & Mitchell, Paul, 2020. "Machine learning for optimizing complex site-specific management," 2020 Conference (64th), February 12-14, 2020, Perth, Western Australia 305238, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society.
    8. Argento, F. & Liebisch, F. & Anken, T. & Walter, A. & El Benni, N., 2022. "Investigating two solutions to balance revenues and N surplus in Swiss winter wheat," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    9. Jin Zhang & Günther Manske & Pi Qi Zhou & Bernhard Tischbein & Mathias Becker & Zhao Hua Li, 2017. "Factors influencing farmers’ decisions on nitrogen fertilizer application in the Liangzihu Lake basin, Central China," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 19(3), pages 791-805, June.
    10. Hyytiäinen, Kari & Niemi, Jarkko K. & Koikkalainen, Kauko & Palosuo, Taru & Salo, Tapio, 2011. "Adaptive optimization of crop production and nitrogen leaching abatement under yield uncertainty," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 104(8), pages 634-644, October.
    11. Späti, Karin & Huber, Robert & Finger, Robert, 2021. "Benefits of Increasing Information Accuracy in Variable Rate Technologies," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 185(C).
    12. Meyer-Aurich, Andreas & Karatay, Yusuf Nadi, 2019. "Effects of uncertainty and farmers' risk aversion on optimal N fertilizer supply in wheat production in Germany," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 130-139.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Chai, Yuan & Pannell, David J. & Pardey, Philip G., 2022. "Reducing Water Pollution from Nitrogen Fertilizer: Revisiting Insights from Production Economics," Staff Papers 320519, University of Minnesota, Department of Applied Economics.
    2. Nordblom, Thomas L. & Hutchings, Timothy R. & Godfrey, Sosheel S. & Schefe, Cassandra R., 2021. "Precision variable rate nitrogen for dryland farming on waterlogging Riverine Plains of Southeast Australia?," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 186(C).
    3. Meyer-Aurich, Andreas & Karatay, Yusuf Nadi, 2019. "Effects of uncertainty and farmers' risk aversion on optimal N fertilizer supply in wheat production in Germany," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 173(C), pages 130-139.
    4. Yusuf Nadi Karatay & Andreas Meyer-Aurich, 2018. "A Model Approach for Yield-Zone-Specific Cost Estimation of Greenhouse Gas Mitigation by Nitrogen Fertilizer Reduction," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(3), pages 1-18, March.
    5. Rajsic, Predrag & Weersink, Alfons, 2008. "Do farmers waste fertilizer? A comparison of ex post optimal nitrogen rates and ex ante recommendations by model, site and year," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 97(1-2), pages 56-67, April.
    6. Andreas Meyer-Aurich & Yusuf Nadi Karatay, 2022. "Greenhouse Gas Mitigation Costs of Reduced Nitrogen Fertilizer," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 12(9), pages 1-13, September.
    7. Predrag Rajsic & Alfons Weersink & Markus Gandorfer, 2009. "Risk and Nitrogen Application Levels," Canadian Journal of Agricultural Economics/Revue canadienne d'agroeconomie, Canadian Agricultural Economics Society/Societe canadienne d'agroeconomie, vol. 57(2), pages 223-239, June.
    8. Meyer-Aurich, Andreas & Gandorfer, Markus & Weersink, Alfons & Wagner, Peter, 2008. "Economic analysis of site-specific wheat management with respect to grain quality and separation of the different quality fractions," 2008 International Congress, August 26-29, 2008, Ghent, Belgium 43649, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    9. Asci, Serhat & Borisova, Tatiana & VanSickle, John J., 2015. "Role of economics in developing fertilizer best management practices," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 152(C), pages 251-261.
    10. Hutchings, Timothy R., 2009. "A financial analysis of the effect of the mix of crop and sheep enterprises on the risk profile of dryland farms in south-eastern Australia – Part 1," AFBM Journal, Australasian Farm Business Management Network, vol. 6(1), pages 1-16, October.
    11. Doole, Graeme J. & Romera, Alvaro J., 2014. "Implications of a nitrogen leaching efficiency metric for pasture-based dairy farms," Agricultural Water Management, Elsevier, vol. 142(C), pages 10-18.
    12. Leen, Frederik & Van den Broeke, Alice & Aluwé, Marijke & Ludwig, Lauwers & Sam, Millet & Jef, Van Meensel, 2017. "Simulation Modelling To Provide Insights Into The Optimization Of Delivery Weights Of Finisher Pigs," 2017 International Congress, August 28-September 1, 2017, Parma, Italy 261272, European Association of Agricultural Economists.
    13. David J. Pannell & Getu Hailu & Alfons Weersink & Amanda Burt, 2008. "More reasons why farmers have so little interest in futures markets," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 39(1), pages 41-50, July.
    14. Sanaz Shoghi Kalkhoran & David Pannell & Maksym Polyakov & Ben White & Morteza Chalak Haghighi & Amin William Mugera & Imma Farre, 2021. "A dynamic model of optimal lime application for wheat production in Australia," Australian Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society, vol. 65(2), pages 472-490, April.
    15. Anderson Jock R. & Birner Regina & Nagarajan Latha & Naseem Anwar & Pray Carl E., 2021. "Private Agricultural R&D: Do the Poor Benefit?," Journal of Agricultural & Food Industrial Organization, De Gruyter, vol. 19(1), pages 3-14, May.
    16. Graeme J. Doole, 2010. "Evaluating Input Standards for Non‐Point Pollution Control under Firm Heterogeneity," Journal of Agricultural Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 61(3), pages 680-696, September.
    17. Argento, F. & Liebisch, F. & Anken, T. & Walter, A. & El Benni, N., 2022. "Investigating two solutions to balance revenues and N surplus in Swiss winter wheat," Agricultural Systems, Elsevier, vol. 201(C).
    18. Robert Finger & Stéphanie Schmid, 2008. "Modeling agricultural production risk and the adaptation to climate change," Agricultural Finance Review, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 68(1), pages 25-41, May.
    19. Madhu Khanna & Shady S. Atallah & Saurajyoti Kar & Bijay Sharma & Linghui Wu & Chengzheng Yu & Girish Chowdhary & Chinmay Soman & Kaiyu Guan, 2022. "Digital transformation for a sustainable agriculture in the United States: Opportunities and challenges," Agricultural Economics, International Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 53(6), pages 924-937, November.
    20. Gandorfer, Markus & Rajsic, Predrag, 2008. "Modeling Economic Optimum Nitrogen Rates for Winter Wheat When Inputs Affect Yield and Output-Price," Agricultural Economics Review, Greek Association of Agricultural Economists, vol. 9(2).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:agisys:v:103:y:2010:i:7:p:478-485. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/agsy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.