For example, if a grower is reasonably close to the Newton location, he could enter the date of the last rain event or irrigation as the beginning date. Then enter the current date. If the reporting station has rainfall that is different than what the farmer received, he can still use the evaporation data as a guide to determine if they are in a surplus or a deficit for that time period. He also compiled weather data specific to the peanut region so growers can easily access soil temperature and rainfall data. Plus, he included drought maps compiled form the weather stations in the peanut belt of Georgia.
Historical analysis is another of the network's important attributes.
Peanut and cotton producer Mike Newberry of Arlington farms near one of the AEMN weather stations and receives daily e-mail updates from the site. Basically, he files the information. Recently, he used it to determine what effect environmental conditions, namely temperature, had on the genetically-enhanced cotton varieties he grew last season. Hoogenboom plans to continue expanding the network, focusing on applications such as irrigation management.