Precision Agriculture: Precision Resource Management - Phase II, Scope 4

The problem facing most Kentucky landowners and farmers is the lack of appropriate and cost effective strategies to manage scarce and variable resources in a site-specific manner. The advent of GIS and GPS provides these producers with new tools to manage this variability. The goal of this project is to develop and assess precision resource management equipment and technologies for implementation in Kentucky to improve environmental quality, aid land use decisions, and enhance profitability. The objective of the current project is to develop and advance geo-spatial technologies in support of 1) natural resource management, 2) land use planning and decision-making and 3) agricultural systems in Kentucky_ This will be done by integrating 10 subprojects: Changes in livestock antibiotic levels and antibiotic resistant bacteria numbers along topohydrosequences in western Kentucky agroecosystems. - Track and evaluate the release and deleterious impacts of livestock antibiotics on water quality and building resistance. Vertebrate Species Habitat Change Characterization In Kentucky: 1992 To 2001 Performing gap analysis on the change in Landsat Thematic Mapper imagery in the past decade. Understanding and Predicting Field-Scale Spatial Variability of Wheat Growth and Yield - Merge crop growth models with parameters that have known spatial patterns to better predict and understand variability in growth and yield. Development and Evaluation of a CAN-Bus Sprayer for Reduction in Off-Target Chemical Application - Plugging into existing control systems to prevent misapplication of pesticides. Refined Recommendations for Precision P, K and Lime - Integrating spatial datasets of soil parameters (commercial grid soil sample data) and yield maps in refining lime and fertilizer recommendations. Tracking the Black Bear with GPS - Applying satellite technology to managing a colonizing large carnivore in Eastern Kentucky. Defining Soil Resource Management Areas Causing Watershed PLoss - Evaluation of the effects of P loading sites at the watershed level. Precision Placement of Granular Materials Via Distributed Control - Methods to give real-time feedback correction of granular applicators for more precise placement. Precision Land Use, Conservation, and Management - Improving soil survey data with geospatial technologies. Landscape Predictors of SV AP Scores in Robinson Forest - A pilot study to develop a method of utilizing geospatial data to predict aquatic conditions as assessed by SV AP from watershed geomorphic and land cover characteristics.