The importance of having a site specific management system emerges clearly from available studies. It is unlikely that one or two inputs will consistently pay the costs of site specific data collection and use. Future Benefits Long run profitability of precision farming technology depends on the development of management systems that link inputs applied with yields harvested on specific sites. These management systems will be some combination of computerized decision support systems and the accumulated wisdom of experienced managers. Decision support systems require databases.
Wisdom comes with long experience.
These management systems will be site specific. Generic decision support systems will be developed, but their performance on your farm will be enhanced by data from your farm. Agricultural databases take time to accumulate. For example, because of weather variability, accurate information on site specific yield potential and problems may require several seasons of data. Retesting soils at the same sites creates data on fertility trends.