Combining field-level data and remote sensing to understand impact of management practices on producer yields

Abstract

Abstract Producer field-level data have been used in recent studies to identify suites of management practices that consistently increase yield for a given climate-soil environment. However, the physiological drivers underlying the empirical associations between yield and management practices derived from these studies have remained mostly speculative, particularly in terms of resource capture and conversion into economic yield. We followed an approach consisting of a large producer database, satellite imagery, and crop modeling to assess which key physiological parameters best explain on-farm yield response to producer-chosen management practices across different climate-soil production environments. Survey data on yield and management practices were collected from 5291 soybean fields sown across the US North Central region during 2014-2016. Producer data were grouped into 10 technology extrapolation domains (TEDs) to account for variation in soil, climate, and water regime across producer fields. Simulated phenology and satellite imagery were used to estimate incident (IPAR) and absorbed (APAR) photosynthetically active radiation during the entire crop season and also during the time-span beginning with pod setting and ending with physiological maturity. In each TED, seed yield was increased by early sowing (+13 to +39 kg ha-1d-1), which was physiologically driven by increases in the duration of both crop cycle and critical period, and by a higher APAR. In-season application of foliar fungicide and/or insecticide also resulted in significant yield increase (+0.35 Mg ha−1, p