Nearly 1,400 farmers from across the country joined 360 Yield Center for a hands-on field day that focused on high-intensity nitrogen management during Proving Grounds 2015, on Aug. 11, 12 and 13, in Tremont, Ill.

Just a year after launching, Gregg Sauder and his team of farmers, agronomists and engineers at 360 Yield Center have expanded its portfolio of solutions that helps farmers gain more control of nitrogen and gives them the ability to make smarter nitrogen management decisions to capture more yield potential. 

"It's an understatement to say this growing season was a challenge," said Gregg Sauder, founder and president of 360 Yield Center. "The massive amounts of rain throughout much of the Corn Belt caused farmers to seek ways to better understand how nitrogen was moving in their soil and how much was left in the tank, as well as ways to apply nitrogen later in the season - to corn that desperately needed it. We helped many farmers this season, and at Proving Grounds we launched even more nitrogen management solutions."

Know More with Accurate Soil Testing

360 SoilScan, a real-time, in-field soil testing system, has changed the way farmers think about nitrogen management and has refocused attention on soil sampling. Farmers can pull into a field, sample and analyze nitrate nitrogen and make real-time application decisions — eliminating the time delay that comes from sending samples to a lab.

360 Yield Center demonstrated the capabilities of 360 SoilScan at Proving Grounds and announced a new pH sensor for the system. Users now can test for nitrate nitrogen and pH simultaneously and from the same cup of soil. Results for both tests displayed and saved together in the 360 SoilScan app.

"Soil pH is a critical variable that greatly influences the root uptake of many soil nutrients," said Sauder. "It is also extremely important in the nitrification process, and adequate pH levels help ensure applied fertilizer is being converted and available to the crop."

For farmers building variable rate nitrogen prescriptions, knowing where to sample within management zones and keeping track of soil samples is important and can be very difficult and time consuming.

The system was on display at Proving Grounds to offer hands-on learning for a new approach to NH3 application. The system will be available this fall and spring 2016 on a limited basis and 360 Yield Center will release a redesigned system for the fall 2016. Another new product featured at Proving Grounds was 360 Yield Patrol Field App. It is a new 360 SoilScan companion app for iPad and iPhone that imports sampling maps for accurate and consistent soil sampling. 

360 Yield Patrol helps farmers determine where to pull samples and uses GPS-tagging to track those sample identification codes in 360 SoilScan. It also offers in-field, visual scouting capabilities. 360 Yield Patrol will be on limited release this fall and the free app will be available to 360 SoilScan users in spring 2016.

Apply Anhydrous Ammonia with Accuracy

"Historically, anhydrous ammonia application system are inherently inaccurate. Look at almost any V4 corn field with NH3 applied, and you can see the streaking that comes from inconsistent knife-to-knife application rates," said Sauder. "We are committed to helping farmers better manage N application and that now includes better solutions for NH3 application."

360 Yield Center expanded its nitrogen application portfolio with full-season solutions by acquiring a new NH3 applicator system - 360 Equi-Flow NH3 Application System.

The system, with Equaply Liquimatic technology, uses a gas separation method and pump pressure to keep anhydrous ammonia in a liquid form for more accurate row-to-row application.

Dramatically Reduce Header Loss in Corn

360 Yield Center also announced 360 Yield Saver Gathering Belt. The new patent-pending gathering belt is a retrofitable replacement for the traditional gathering chain.

The 360 Yield Saver design uses rubber flighting to catch and deliver kernels and nubbins to the auger and helps ensure kernels that bounce don't scatter to the ground but are instead captured. The team demonstrated a prototype concept at Proving Grounds and will begin field testing this fall.

"Just two lost kernels per square foot of ground steals one bushel per acre," said Sauder. "We help farmers capture more yield potential. Our early testing indicates we can cut header loss by two thirds. That's pretty exciting to me."