“Trial Design from As-planted Data”
Many farm fields are shaped irregularly and have dramatic topological changes over short distances. In many such cases, it is not possible for farmers to simply apply inputs in straight, rectangular grids, and so designing field trials for these kinds of irregular fields is challenging. But DIFM scientists are making good progress on the problem. In this video, the field trial design is being generated using “as-applied” data from previous years. That is, the computer is following the path of an applicator in a previous year. This eastern Washington field has dramatic changes in elevation over small changes in location. This makes trial design a three-dimensional problem, since when a 90-ft applicator is working on a 40-degree slope, its width projected to a flat surface is far less than 90 feet. DIFM continues to work hard to develop computer code that can help farmers make field trial designs on fields with irregular shapes and topographies.