Buhlig had a half dozen soil samples taken every 3 acres, which were mixed together into one sample. Each 3-acre plot was recorded with GPS precision. Then GPS-equipped fertilizer trucks applied varying amounts of nitrogen, phosphorus and potash to each of the 3 acres, according to what individual plot soil lab analysis recommendations suggested. How the MAX program can help you Helping farmers evaluate the economics of crop production decisions is the main goal of the MAX program, says Dan Towery, Natural Resources Specialist, Conservation Technology Information Center. The recordkeeping forms or software can be used individually or by a group of growers to evaluate a particular practice.
Participants use standardized costs and actual input records to evaluate production economics.
Confidentiality in comparisons is maintained by assigning private ID numbers. Growers involved in organized watersheds were the main users of the MAX program last year. Again in 1998, conservation, Extension and other personnel will organize local MAX programs around the country. The MAX software requires Windows 3.1 or Windows95. That doesn't really help your poorer soils all that much.