Total Acre Introduces Nutrient Power Ranking (NPR) for Farmers

LEXINGTON, Ky., July 22, 2024 (Newswire.com) - Total Acre is excited to announce the new tissue sampling scoring method Nutrient Power Ranking (NPR), Version One is now available to help farmers understand and predict how different nutrients affect their crops. This tool is a new feature within the proprietary Yield Management System (YMS) that Total Acre members currently have access to.

NPR is a tool created by crop modeling plus analytics to gain a greater awareness and understanding of what nutrients are sufficient individually. This advanced tissue scoring method highlights imbalances—whether too high or too low, identifying the optimal time and stage to apply specific nutrients, helping farmers optimize yield and maximize ROI. 

According to Randy Siever, Chief Operating Officer, “The NPR tool is a unique product that is a culmination of digesting nearly a decade of real on-farm data points, specifically designed to benchmark nutrient sufficiency analytics with our interactive nutrient matrix. This accurately pin-points issues that can be managed within the entire growing system.” Total Acre’s goal with NPR is to answer the question for farmers, “If I were to apply a single nutrient at this point, which would have the greatest impact on my yield?”

If the scoring method identifies an issue the farmer can reference a list of preferred or known products to fix that deficiency to regain balance. To continue to measure against the benchmark goal, tissue samples will be re-pulled to see if the application remedied the issue. The objective is to treat the actual problem, not just the symptoms.

In 2024, NPR is currently available only for corn with testing ongoing for soybean production. NPR results are published for corn at two key times during the year when nutrient balance has the most impact: once when crops have grown 700-850 GDUs and again at the VT/R1 stage. Regular messages about new tissue samples will now include a note about having an NPR analysis available. Farmers need to enter their RM (Relative Maturity) on the tissue sample sites to get the correct sample highlighted.

Addressing nutrients out of balance will have the greatest impact on your overall yield. David Hula, nine-time World Champion Corn Grower and Total Acre specialist advises, “We still encourage you to address any sufficiency gaps first from the traditional scale. If you're in the green for sufficiency, use the NPR scale to fix any red (in-sufficient) balances.” Hula reminds farmers that having a realistic goal for a particular field and knowing when to push for higher yields or pump the brakes to avoid spending money chasing an unattainable yield should be top of mind.

Currently, only growers with Total Acre memberships can use the new NPR tool. For more information about the Nutrient Power Ranking visit: https://totalacre.com/interest-list

Source: Total Acre