IoFarm in Field Test: Does a Cost-Optimal Choice of Fertilization Influence Yield, Protein Content, and Market Performance in Crop Production?

• Published in: Agriculture (Basel) Vol. 11; no. 6; p. 571
• Main Authors: Tröster, Michael Friedrich, Sauer, Johannes
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Basel MDPI AG 01.06.2021
• Subjects: Agricultural economics; Agricultural practices; Agricultural production; Agriculture; Agronomy; Cereal crops; Cost control; Crop production; Crop rotation; Crop yield; Crops; decision support; Decision support systems; Environmental conditions; Farms; Fertilization; fertilizer recommendation; Fertilizers; Field tests; field trial; least-cost combination; Mineralization; model validation; Nitrogen; Nutrient content; nutrient management; Nutrients; Optimization; Organic fertilizers; Proteins; Soil testing; Variance analysis; Wheat; Bavaria Germany; Germany
• ISSN: 2077-0472; 2077-0472
• DOI: 10.3390/agriculture11060571

Decision-support system (DSS) IoFarm was developed to identify economically optimal fertilizer strategies on the farm level. The average cost savings are 66 EUR ha−1. This study aimed to determine whether this approach impacts yield, protein content, and market performance in crop production compared to usual farm-fertilization strategies. Few DSSs for fertilizer optimization consider multiple nutrients. DSSs with a clear focus on both fertilizer intensity and the least-cost combination of fertilizers are even rarer. To the best of our knowledge, there is no information in the literature on the impact of such DSSs on yield, protein content, and market performance for cereal–maize crop rotation. This study determines for the first time whether the financial benefits of using such an optimization tool are in conflict with important agronomic goals. In a three-year field trial, IoFarm was compared to standard farm-fertilization strategies. Results were evaluated with an analysis of variance followed by post hoc tests. No significant differences in yield, protein content, and market performance were found for comparable fertilization variants (with or without organic fertilization). However, differences exist in the selection of fertilizers and the timing of fertilization. Results show the agronomic comparability of IoFarm and usual farm-fertilizer strategies.