Tutorial file
Contents
1. Field IDtt 1 Dark Brown Southwest and Cyprus Hills LETHBRIDGE PLAIN fa 2 2a Dark Brown Southwest and Cyprus Hills LETHBRIDGE PLAIN MOIST M fied Descr Dark Brown Southwest and Cyprus Hils LETHBRIDGE PLAIN MOIST M Quarter Section NE 1 4 A8 Dark Brown Southwest and Cyprus Hills LETHBRIDGE PLAIN MOIST M Section 2 v 5 A12 Dark Brown Southwest and Cyprus Hills LETHBRIDGE PLAIN MOIST M Township 9 Range 21 E Meridian w of 4 Field Area 52 Jac E D to Se Ris ao Automatically determine your soil ALI eias de roup ecoregion and ecodistrict from Ecoregion Moist Mixed Grassland g g n Ecodwier NESE a legal land description LLD amp Delete the selected field Add a new field Sort by Field ID Field Description C Soil Group C Ecoregion C Ecodistrict C Range C Township AF FI RM This is one of the important variables hyperlinked to the user manual for further information C Descending 3 To determine the soil group ecoregion and ecodistrict click on the LLD to Soil Group button Dark Brown Southwest and Cyprus Hills soil group should appear with the Moist Mixed Grassland ecoregion and the Lethbridge Plain ecodistrict If you do not know the legal land description of the field you are analyzing or disagree with the determined soil group you can override the calculator and select a soil group from th2. 2 Save your results as scenario d i e the original example with an investment ratio of 1 5 Printing reports To print a recommendation report click on the printer button Similar to the previous tabs you have the option to print or copy the information into Excel 16 AFFIRM Tutorial 4 Running the farm optimization Once you have entered data for all fields of the farm you can proceed to the optimization tab where you can begin to consider N application for all your fields based on your fertilizer budget Up until now AFFIRM has not considered your fertilizer budget and generated recommendations for individual fields However when you make fertilizer decisions you consider the total cost of all nutrients for all fields of your operation Based on a set fertilizer budget the farm optimization component of AFFIRM will refine your N recommendations to maximize your earning potential of your entire operation To understand the principles and calculations of the optimization models please refer to the User Manual Section A 3 d Farm Optimization Model and Section G Farm Optimization Model Calculations 1 Click on the Optimization tab it may take awhile to load and the screen may go while loading be patient Each analysis is dependent upon the moisture level When working with your own data ensure you select the moisture level you feel is the most probable for the up coming growing season For this exam
3. AFFIRM Tutorial 7 p amp E WARNING This is a beta testing version of AFFIRM Producer KPS Farms Field List Fertilizer Cost 2004 Crop Price Field A1 Optimization Help Current Ye Fertilizer Nutrient Calculator Fertilizer Type Eig Chloride CI X Cancel Historical fertilizer costs of the last 6 years Fertilizer Cost Nitrogen Fertilizer Urea 46 0 0 Grana m 42315 tonne Fertiizer Nun Phosphate Fertilizer Monoammonium Phosphate 11 52 0 Granula 423 80 Jenna Nitrogen Potassium Fertilizer Muriate of Potash 0 0 60 Granular fs Phosphate P205 Sulfur Fertilizer Ammonium Sulfate 20 0 0245 Granula 29510 tonne Potash K20 Boron Fertilizer tonne Sulphur S Chlorine Fertilizer n tonne Zinc Zn Copper Fertilizer iem tonne Copper Cu tron Fertilizer 9 tonne Manganese Mn Manganese Fertilizer HW tonne Iron Zinc Fertilizer HW tonne Clear for numerous fertilizer products Nutrient Cost po b pa b 015 b p sb 0 00 Ib lb Ib Ib Ib Ib e AFFIRM Tutorial Crop prices 1 Click on the Crop Price tab Crop prices are required for the economic analysis and farm optimization models All crop prices entered pertain to the operating year eg 2004 that was set in the
4. Once you have saved a file the file name will appear in the white box of the opening screen for quick access next time you open AFFIRM AFFIRM Tutorial 13 3 Generating a field fertilizer recommendation 1 Click back to the Current Crop tab 2 Click the RUN button Your screen should appear as below sj Alberta Farm Fertilizer Information and Recommendation Manager AFFI ou amp WARNING This is a beta testing version of AFFIRM Producer KPS Farms Field list Fertilizer cost 2004 Crop price Field A15 Farm optimization Field Description 15 6 v Soll Type Dark Brown Southwest and Cyprus Hils Date 11 9 2004 Previous Crop Flax Soil Information Current Crop Triticale Current Crop frie I Irrigation z Crop Price 85 00 tonne z E Run Spring Soil Moisture Medium gt Boos REEVE ETE EE Economic Analysis Moisture Level Growing season precipatation Wet 245 mm Medium 163 mm Dry 81 mm Nitrogen Estimated Marginal Investment Estimated Marginal Investment Estimated Marginal Investment Applied Yield bu ac Return ac Ratio Yield bu ac Return ac Ratio Yield bu ac Return ac Ratio 164 154 145 228 1422 214 1278 30 na n a I f 263 10 41 25 2 E Investment Ratioj2 v Nitrogen fertilizer application should be based on desired yi
5. Malt barley 4 00 bu 2004 ome 2004 Canola 7 50 bu 2004 Mustard 380 00 tonne Expected Sale Price 8500 for Expected Price for Economic Analysis Months Until Sale Interest annum Although price was entered as tonnes AFFIRM requires the crop price data for triticale in bushels All economic results for triticale will be reported in bushels Add a new crop Delete the selected crop FEN r 1 AFFIRM Tutorial 9 Current crop information 1 Click on the Field tab 2 Select Field 15 from the field description drop down menu TIP It is very important to always check that you have the correct field selected when entering the data The selected field will appear in the Field tab title as well as in the field description variable Within the Field tab there are 3 sub tabs 3 You should be in the Current Crop If the Previous Crop or Soil Information tab is open the program will not allow you to proceed until you have filled out the required information for that tab You will have to proceed to that section of the tutorial first and fill in the required information before you can open the Current Crop tab 4 Within the Current Crop tab you will need to fill out the information as below 18 x ij Alberta Farm Fertilizer Information and Recommendation Manager AFFIRM July 15 2004 Beta 17 Tuto
6. Money Map and Crop Choices Running scenarios Like the nitrogen economic analysis you are able to alter variables to determine their effect on the recommendations You may want to increase your budget change a particular crop s investment ratio or increase a crop price 1 Increase the budget to 20 000 Adequate resources are now available to meet the target investment ratios of all crops In fact only 16 120 is required to meet the fertilizer recommendations of all fields based on the set target investment ratios AFFIRM Tutorial 19 TIP Changes made within this optimization model are linked back to all other information i e changes in crop price are also changed in the crop price tab Saving a different file names is recommended when you make changes particularly if you want to refer back to your original analysis Printing reports To print an optimization click on the printer button Similar to the previous tabs you have the option to print or copy the information into Excel A separate report needs to the printed for each moisture level Click on another moisture level tab to display that report 20 AFFIRM Tutorial
7. in the respective tabs eg fertilizer cost It is recommended to change one variable at a time making sure to restore the altered variable before proceeding onto another variable The table below displays N recommendations from various scenarios Under drier moisture conditions all nutrient recommendations are adjusted to anticipate decreased yield potential When you decrease the investment ratio or N fertilizer costs recommendations increase However when crop prices decrease economic N recommendations decrease AFFIRM Tutorial 15 1 Run different scenarios as suggested below a d changing one variable at a time Be sure to change the variable back to the original value before looking at the effect of another variable Spring soil moisture changed from medium to dry Crop price decreased from 85 tonne to 75 tonne N fertilizer cost decreased from 0 42 Ib to 0 38 Ib Investment ratio decreased from 2 to 1 5 aoe With this type of exercise you will begin to understand the factors that influence fertilizer recommendations Compare your results with the table below They should be the same Nitrogen recommendations Ibs ac from various scenarios for field A15 of the KPS Farms example Original Scenarios all variables decreased Moisture level example Spring Soil Moisture Crop Price N Fertilizer Cost Investment Ratio Wet 45 40 35 50 65 Medium 30 25 25 40 50 Dry 20 15 15 25 35
8. 5 0 00 5 00 10 00 15 00 20 00 25 00 30 00 Sacre EXXXJP205 BS K20 Cs III Micros E N Alert Messages User Notes no yield response data available for Mustard and Winter wheat Wet Moisture Conditions Medium Moisture Conditions Dry Moisture Conditions Field Area Current Crop Crop Price Target IR Reachedin N P205 kof s Zof CulMn re B or Estimated vield Fertiizer Costt ac Total Fertiizer Costt n 148 Durum wheat 4 25 20 0 10 o 101 Canola 1 i 15 0 260 Malt barley 4 00 2 3 10 0 0 53 SSS SS SSS sss 2 12 20 2 0 0 5 25 150 Triticale 5 1 9 For this example the budget was not enough to meet the target investment ratios of all crops If we refer back to each of the economic analysis for the four crops we see the target investment ratio was only met for Field A8 Because the budget is limiting AFFIRM suggests cutting back 10 165 N on each of the remaining three fields assuming the individual field recommendations were made with an investment ratio of 2 TIP It is suggested to print out the economic analysis of each field when using the optimization model Referencing from these tables allows you to determine how close the optimization process approaches the target investment ratio TIP Notice the fertilizer cost per acre and total fertilizer cost in the last two columns of the bottom table Such information is valuable for other AAFRD programs like
9. 8 starprecision yahoo c us Clover Irrigation 403 449 Resid es 2 Bar Miller Dave Box203 River AB avo 2134 cloverbarfarms yahoo Busin Farms Harvest TON 403 479 Fax 3 Ridge Watson Keith RR 2 Brownville AB 4D2 3814 harvestridge yahoo cc eMail KPS Bo 0 E3C 0403 789 4 arms Pollichuck Bob 6735 Brown 4783 dbknoll yahoo com FR Knoll Sunset Peace TOC 780 972 se 5 Farms Spencer RRA2a Country AB 282 7843 sunset yahoo com or ceu Black 184 U2N 780 257 780 258 780 286 Fe 6 Gold Lysack Gerald Ditch Blackie AB 545 9422 4934 8473 blackgold yahoo com 8 Select KPS Farms again to ensure we are working with this farm or check to see that KPS Farms is present on the Producer tab title AFFIRM Tutorial 5 Field information 1 Click on the Field List tab Field description name soil group and size of the field i e field area are required variables KPS Farms currently has 5 fields For this example we are going to add another field to KPS Farms 2 Click on Add a new field button Enter the field information as seen in the screen below for the new field oh amp WARNING This is a beta testing version of AFFIRM Producer KPS Farms Field list Fertilizer cost 2004 Crop price Field lt n a gt Farm optimization Field Information
10. ALBERTA FARM FERTILIZER INFORMATION AND RECOMMENDATION MANAGER VERSION 2 AFFIRM TUTORIAL AGRICULTURE FOOD AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT Table of Contents Downloading the software essen eene ener nennen eene nnn en en enne 2 2 Entering your information esses eerte A nennen enin nere 2 Getting started 5 eee Ha 2 Producer Farm contact information esses 3 e o obere e ton pr rtl e PL cacao t 6 7 Crop I LO ee ted Re ete en ed ee rm SJ ree NG 9 Current crop formation i ge teet Oe ode Fortes beoe Hase sedat eer tue doe t Pr ATAT 10 11 Previous crop and agronomic management information sess 12 Saving your information cccccccceescessceeeeseeeseecseeceeceecsseceseceseceseeeseeseeeseeeseseseaeeeseeeeeesaeesgees 13 3 Generating a field fertilizer recommendation esses een 14 Interpreting results PC et e D i o eR ree EG 15 Running SCEMATIOS haces eee pr ee d RE ru nde A EG 15 Pririting eie rt n etre err o RE Ue t tee der Uti ree ne ET De eae oat 16 4 Running the farm optimization sese eene entren erre nennen ener 17 Interpreting t redet e eee t le chee Pede dee Erbe Le TRE de dus 18 Running Scenarios 59 enne n cag
11. Barley Winter Wheat Field Peas Feed Barley Grass Legume 30 Oats Triticale Grass Forage Seed CWRS Wheat CPS Wheat Canola Field Peas Field peas Legume Forage Winter Wheat Fababean Grass legume 50 Star Precision is an example of a precision farming operation One field has been divided by topographic position upper slope mid slope and lower slope to represent the variations present within a field 2 Select the example by clicking on the farm name of KPS Farms on the right hand side of the screen This example will become highlighted blue and the farm name will appear in the tab name see below If you have multiple farms entered within one file it is important that you select the farm you are working on as all following data i e fields fertilizer cost crop price is specific to the selected farm Checking the name that appears on the tab is a quick reference to ensure you have selected the correct farm TIP There is a read only check box at the bottom of the screen When enabled this option will not allow you to enter or change information and the help bar is disabled This option is useful when all information is finalized and you want to remove the chance of accidentally removing or changing the information 3 Click the Read Only check box to disable the option When you enter your own information use the mouse to click on the different input cells or use the tab key to maneuver quickly betw
12. Farm Fertilizer Information and Recommendation Manager AFFIRM July 15 2004 Beta dv xd AFFIRM HR 9 a Producer Farm contact information 1 Click the middle button El on the upper right hand side of the screen to maximize the screen size This will maximize your screen to display all contents on the screen As you can see AFFIRM v 2 is designed in 7 main screen tabs sequentially ordered for you to enter information The design follows the concept of the new farm optimization model considers the entire farm as an operation rather than looking at individual fields when making economic fertilizer decisions Setup is centered on the farm level where farm information is required first and then we will work our way to entering individual field information For this tutorial we will use KPS Farms as our example There are five other example farms available each representing a different soil group within the province Farm Soil group Star Precision Black NE Clover Bar Farms Irrigation Brown Harvest Ridge Brown KPS Farms Dark brown SW Black Gold Black NE Sunset Farms Dark grey Peace Keenter Swine Dark grey SW AFFIRM Tutorial Laboratory Norwest Sandberg Lakeside Midwest Norwest Envirotest A amp L Crops CWRS Wheat Sunflower Field Bean Canola Soft Wheat Silage Corn CWRS Wheat Feed Barley Durum Chickpea Grass Legume 50 Mustard Durum Canola Malt
13. by the listed variables 4 Click on the variable you want to sort by either in ascending and descending order Notice the variables are re sorted TIP Columns on the right hand side can be resized for easy viewing and or column order can be changed 5 To resize the column width place your mouse in between the column titles Right click hold and drag your mouse to resize the column width To change column positions click on the column title hold and drag it to the desired position All information entered on this screen and field list fertilizer cost and crop price tabs can be printed or exported to Excel 6 Click on the printer button and a screen similar to below will appear To copy this information into Excel click on the copy button Open a new worksheet in Excel and paste To print click the print button 7 Click the x in the upper right hand side of the screen to close this screen dialog 18 x ica m WARNING This beta testing version of AFFIRM Producer Black Gold Field List Fertilizer Cost 2004 Field lt n a gt Optimization Help Custo Custo Farm Last t First Adde Farm Farm Last First PostallRes Bus Mail ID Name Name ss City Code Phone Phone Fax i Star sa TOO 780 497 T Pi fovit 1 Precision Bell Andrew Box32 Precision 205 1531
14. d triticale TIP When a nutrient cost is not included e g a micronutrient AFFIRM cannot incorporate the cost of any recommendations into the set costs Interpreting results 1 Enter a farm fertilizer budget of 15 000 2 Click the Run button As the optimization process runs through you can see the program allocating N in 10 pound increments to the field with the largest investment ratio until the budget is depleted or the target investment ratio is reached To understand the details of how AFFIRM allocates N amongst the fields refer to Farm Optimization Model Calculations in the User Manual 18 AFFIRM Tutorial Alberta Farm Fertilizer Information and Recommendation Manager AFFIRM Sept 28 2004 AFF laj xj oh amp m WARNING This is a beta testing version of AFFIRM Producer KPS Farms Field List Fertilizer Cost 2004 Crop Price Field A15 Optimization Help Total Farm fertilizer budget 15000 177 PKS and micros needed for all fields 3 003 needed for N to crops without YR data available for N to crops with YR data Fertilizer N P205 20 Zn Mn Fe Cos Ab o42 0281 015 021 of of o 0 of o Per acre Fertilizer Cost for KPS Farms B 0 EM Total fetti ag 14 868 OOO Surplus A12 485 132 Expected sale price for Mustard 018 Total acres 845 Target Investment Ratio IR for E 2
15. e drop down menu Ecoregion or ecodistricts however can only be determined from the LLD calculator To visualize the provincial soil groups a Soil Map of Alberta is provided TIP Important variables are hyperlinked to the user manual eg soil group When you click on these titles related sections of the user manual will appear where you can find further information on the subject The field area information is important to complete the farm optimization and calculate total fertilizer costs 6 AFFIRM Tutorial Fertilizer costs 1 Click on the Fertilizer Cost tab The fertilizer cost screen provides two important functions First it allows the user to select the crop year This year selection will affect all of your subsequent fertilizer and crop information field recommendations and farm optimization screens Each of the subsequent screens will display a year tag to identify the year you are working with This also allows the user to store historic information fertilizer costs crop prices soil test data and field history Please note if you want to input historic information for your own farm you need to identify the oldest year to input and store the historic information AFFIRM will only add newer years after the year you start with Remember if you want to switch crop years this the screen you must use The second function of the Fertilizer Cost screen is to input the initial fertilizer cost information Fertilizer c
16. een the cells TIP Variable descriptions definitions can be found at the bottom of your screen in the help bar when your cursor or mouse is placed in a variable box WARNING This is a beta testing version of AFFIRM Field List Fertilizer Cost 2004 Crop Price Field n a Optimization Help 1 Star Precision Bell Andrew Box 32 Precision 2 Clover Bar Farms Miller Dave Box 203 Irrigation River 3 Harvest Ridge Watson Keith AR 2 Brownville 4 Pollichuck Bob Dark Brown Knoll 5 Sunset Farms Spencer Larry AR HZ2a Peace Country 6 Black Gold Lysack Gerald 184 Ditch Rd Blackie Customer Information review Search Filter Customer Farm ID 4 Farm Name KPS Fams Last Name First Name Bob Address B6535 OU City Town Dark Brown Knoll Province 7 Postal Code 7 Residential Phone 14037894783 Business Phone DO eMail dbknol yahoo com I Read Only Add a new producer eg Delete the selected producer e Sort by Customer ID Farm Name Ascending C Last Name First Name C Address C City Town Descending 4 AFFIRM Tutorial When you have multiple farms per file e g you are a dealer there is an option to sort all farms by each variable either in ascending or descending order Within the field list tab you are also able to sort fields
17. eld increase crop price nitrogen fertilizer costs and spring soil moisture conditions For optimum crop response method of appling phosphate fertilizer is very important Soil test sulphur is low indicating a sulphur deficiency For reliable recommendations or identifying soil problems soil sampling to 24 inches is advised for nitrogen sulphur and chlorine Moisture may be a serious limitation for this region Higher soil moisture and improved nutrient use efficiency may increase yield potential under no till or minimum tillage Leaving straw residue on the field to improve soil quality should be considered 60 70 80 90 100 110 120 130 140 150 Nitrogen Added Ib acre Wet Medium Dry HO IBN 69 Five main sections comprise the main analysis screen Each screen is dynamic to allow you to expand or minimize a particular section similar to resizing of the column widths The fertilizer recommendation table is on the left and the economic analysis table is on the right The graphs on the bottom left displays estimated yield and marginal return from increasing nitrogen applications The alert messages box displays important information regarding your field conditions or fertilizer recommendations The user notes section is your place to store notes of any type regarding the field For example you may want to record information regarding type of fertilizers previously used locations pres
18. ence of previous lodging or the amount of precipitation received last year TIP For some crops there may not be yield response data available to run an economic analysis AFFIRM will warn you of this before a recommendation is made Please refer to the nutrient recommendation model section of this user manual for a full explanation of the steps involved in generating a recommendation and a list of crops with yield response equations 14 AFFIRM Tutorial Interpreting results AFFIRM generates recommendations for wet medium and dry moisture conditions based on the amount of precipitation you anticipate throughout the growing season Blue color is associated with wet conditions green medium moisture and red dry soil conditions For the soil group of this example AFFIRM estimates the growing season precipitation between May July between 245 mm wet and 81 mm dry For those nutrients with no soil test data the recommendation table indicates this nutrient was not analyzed i e n a Only N recommendations are included in the economic analysis and therefore the N values reported within the table are dependent upon the set investment ratio AFFIRM has defaulted the investment ratio i e IR at 2 but you can increase or decrease the IR to reflect your comfortable risk level The nitrogen economic analysis table presents the estimated yield marginal return and investment ratio for each 10 165 of nitrogen applied for the three moi
19. es aecatatbesanevdaps 19 Printing er eg ite i EE eU UB re ene EET e 20 AFFIRM Tutorial l This tutorial will work through a farm example to assist you in entering your data troubleshooting any problems you have encountered and interpreting the output Tips will be mentioned as we work our way through this example 1 Downloading the software Unlike other software programs AFFIRM is a self contained single executable file 2 5 MB It is recommended that you download the software to your desktop Simply copy the AFFIRM EXE file to your desktop screen 2 Entering your information Getting started 1 Double click the icon to open the program Every time you start AFFIRM an opening screen will appear that allows you to e Create a new file farm e Open an existing file farm e Open an example For this tutorial we will open an example When you input your own data you will choose to create a new file farm 2 Click on the open an example option and then click OK 22 AFFIRM Tutorial bij Alberta Farm Fertilizer Information and Recommendation Manager AFFIRM Producer Customer Infor Customer Farr Farm Name Last Name First Name Address City T own Province Postal Code Residential Ph Business Phor Customer I C First Name 7 Address C City Town eels rms WARNING This is a beta testing version of AFFIRM Alberta
20. nt ratios you need 24 675 farm fertilizer budget Wet Moisture Conditions Medium Moisture Conditions Dry Moisture Conditions l Field Field Area Curent Crop Crop Pice TargetiR fReachedir N fP205 ka0f sf zn Cufmn re B Estmated Yield Fertiizer Cost Ac Total Fertiizer D 3 148 Durum wheat 101 Canola 7 50 20 260 Malt barley 150 Triticale N recommendations highlighted in green not optimized until you enter a budget and run the model AFFIRM Tutorial 17 Before entering a fertilizer budget AFFIRM calculates the P K S and micronutrient costs from the recommendations of each field and the N recommendations for those crops without yield response data i e highlighted in dark grey The yellow table reports the total quantity rate x field area of nutrients required for the farm based on individual field recommendations In this example 3 003 is needed to cover the P and S recommendations for the farm To cover the N cost of the mustard and winter wheat fields 781 is required In total 3 785 dollars are required before AFFIRM can start allocating N to the remaining four crops The graph displays the fertilizer cost per acre for each field You can get an idea of the proportion each nutrient is contributing to the total cost Before the analysis is run N is not included in the total fertilizer cost for those fields with yield response data i e durum canola malt barley an
21. osts are required for the economic analysis and farm optimization models You can either directly input nutrient costs Ib or use the Fertilizer Nutrient Calculator to automatically determine actual nutrient cost per pound from blended nutrients For this example the macronutrient costs i e N P K and S is already included however lets determine these nutrient costs from blended fertilizers 2 Click on the Fertilizer Nutrient Calculator This calculator requires you to select a fertilizer for each nutrient and enter the cost per tonne to automatically calculate nutrient costs 3 Following the example below select the fertilizers from the drop down menus and enter the accompanying prices 4 Click the Save button to accept these numbers and they will appear on the main screen once saved When you enter fertilizer costs for your farm AFFIRM will require you to set a starting year before entering any costs AFFIRM records fertilizer costs on a yearly basis Once you have set the year all entered fertilizer costs crop prices and analyses will pertain to that year To enter data for next year click on the Add a year button You cannot however enter data prior to the starting year that was set TIP If you do not have fertilizer costs handy simply click on Historical Fertilizer Prices for average fertilizer tonne and actual nutrient Ib prices for the last 6 six years Print tables for reference
22. ple we feel that receiving approximately 150 mm of rain over the growing season is the most probable 2 Click on the Medium moisture condition tab 3 Expand the alert message box to view all messages One of the first messages indicates that you will require Alberta Farm Fertilizer Information and Recommendation Manager AFFIRM Nov 20 Al laj x oh amp m WARNING This is a beta testing version of AFFIRM Producer KPS Farms Field list Fertilizer cost 2004 Crop price Field Faim optimization Help Total Farm fertilizer budget Per acre id Fertilizer Cost for KPS Farms needed to PKS and Micros for all fields YY Run needed for N to crops without YR data FIM available for N to crops with YR data Lucien Fertilizer N P205 Zn Cu Mn Cost sb 0421 028 MUT EY E mw um Ii Total fert 0 00 2 00 4 00 6 00 8 00 10 00 1200 1400 16 00 18 00 Expected sale price for Mustard 390 00 tonne Total acres 845 acre Target Investment Ratio IR for P205 EXXX K20 Es CT Micros EN Alert Messages User Notes No yield response data available for Mustard and Winter wheat Please enter a fertilizer budget Total budget not enought to cover fixed costs of P K 5 and micros Budget was not enought to cover all costs target IR was not reached due to insufficient budget To reach target investme
23. previous Fertilizer Cost tab Expected crop prices can be entered in any selling unit that is selected from the drop down menu 2 To add a crop price click the Add a new crop button Select Triticale as the crop Enter 85 00 in the expected sale price cell and select tonne as the selling unit WARNING If the program alerts that 85 00 is out of range choose not to revise the data This has occurred because AFFIRM assumes you inputting a price of 85 00 bu Choose NO and proceed to select tonnes Notice that AFFIRM automatically calculates the price in bushels under the Expected price for economic analysis The software requires bushel ton or pound units depending on the crop to carry out the economic analysis Once you have entered a crop price AFFIRM automatically calculates the required units Please note that the results of the economic analysis will be reported in these units not the unit you reported the crop price in i Alberta Farm Fertilizer Information and Recommendation Manager AFFIRM July 15 2004 Beta 17 5 AFFIR 81 x amp H WARNING This is a beta testing version of AFFIRM Producer KPS Farms Field List Fertilizer Cost 2004 Crop Price Field A1 Optimization Help EE em Sale Price Yield Unt mons inerest 2004 Winter wheat 4 00 bu Year 2004 2004 Durum wheat 4 25 bu Crop Name Triticale 2004
24. r own data you may have two or more results for P and or K AFFIRM only requires a single result Please refer to the User Manual to determine the most appropriate method for Alberta conditions Section D Nutrient Recommendation Model 1 c Soil test laboratory Alberta Farm Fertilizer Information and Reco EIE IET amp 7 WARNING This is a beta testing version of AFFIRM Producer KPS Farms Field list Fertilizer cost 2004 Crop price Field A15 Farm optimization Help Field Description 415 6 v Soil Type Dark Brown Southwest and Cyprus Hills Date 117872004 Previous Crop lt n a gt Soil Information Current Crop Triticale Sample Depth 0 6 6 12 E Soil Sampling Time Late Fall X Soil Test Results Soil Test Laboratory Midwest m Depth NO3 N 504 5 soilpH sol EC Soil Texture Zn Cu Mn Fe B of sp at ny wp ow 1 ff m em sh IT 1 _ _ Macro Nutrient Units rz Micro Nutrient Units a Estimated Nitrogen Release ENR Soil test Organic matter OM Soil group om 46 Specific ENR test Hot KCI z Lab result 35 ppm Lab calculated ENR AFFIRM calculated ENR MS Alert Messages for ENR calculations Calculate ENR The ENR calculation is an estimate of the nitrogen release mineralized from soil organic matter and available for crop growth It is dependent upon soil moisture and temperature during the growing
25. rial amp amp La WARNING This is a beta testing version of AFFIRM Producer KPS Farms Field List Fertilizer Cost 2004 Crop Price Field A15 Optimization Help Field Description a5 6 Soil Type park Brown Southwest and Cyprus Hills Date 87572004 Previous Crop Flax Soil Information 1 Current Crop mide Irrigation no x wae Sale Price 8 a Merve Months Until om mS P205 K20 E Run Spring Soil Moisture Medium 1 8 ia oT EAST ET E AFFIRM LEES 0 User Notes 10 AFFIRM Tutorial Soil test results 1 Click on the Soil Information tab Here you enter information on your soil sampling techniques and your soil test results AFFIRM requires you to select the soil sample depth sample time and soil test laboratory you had your samples analyzed at Fertility levels and soil texture can be easily entered using the tab key to move between the cells 2 Enter the example soil test results as below WARNING When entering the example below AFFIRM will warn you that the K levels are out of range This just indicates to you that the K level is high Choose not to revise the data as it is correct Similar warning screens may appear when entering data throughout the program The main purpose of these warning screens is to prevent you from accidentally entering an usual number TIP When entering you
26. rop and agronomic management information 2 Use the screen below to fill in the appropriate information for this example TIP Use the help bar and or click on the hyperlinked variables for further information that will assist you in selecting the appropriate variables when filling your information bij Alberta Farm Fertilizer Information and Recommendation Manager AFFIRM July 15 2004 Beta 17 AFFIRM Exar a xi sg amp m WARNING This is a beta testing version of AFFIRM Producer KPS Farms Field List Fertilizer Cost 2004 Crop Price Fiela A15 Optimization Help Field Description fa15 6 x Soil Type Dark Brown Southwest and Cyprus Hills Date 8 4 2004 Previous Crop Flax Soil Information Current Crop Triticale Previous Crop Previous Irrigation Previous Crop Yield bu acv Tillage Minimum x Residue Management feted Manure Applied ee gt 12 AFFIRM Tutorial Saving your information 1 Click on the button with the computer disk at the top of the screen to save The saving location is defaulted to My Documents folder but it is recommended to create a new folder in a location of your choice AFFIRM files are stored as fir fertilizer information recommendation These files can only by read by AFFIRM though you are able to export data to Excel 2 Rename the file and save it in a folder for your choice
27. season residue management and landscape position ENR Estimated Nitrogen Release Although not all variables are required AFFIRM will alert you if important information is missing for the calculations TIP If your soil test does not provide certain information eg CEC values leave the cell blank Do not enter a zero AFFIRM recognizes the difference between a blank cell and a zero and will calculate a recommendation if a zero is entered AFFIRM Tutorial 11 3 Click on the Calculate ENR button According to the example the specific lab test of hot KCI was used to determine ENR potential AFFIRM has calculated an estimated nitrogen release of 81 7 Ib ac This is the amount of N that can potentially become available to your crop over the growing season depending on weather conditions and physical soil conditions The current version of AFFIRM indirectly incorporates the ENR into the N recommendation and yield response by using the soil group to calibrate crop response to nitrogen fertilizer If you do not have an organic matter estimate of your field AFFIRM will use your soil group organic matter average to calculate an ENR value seen in the Soil Group OM cell For this example the dark brown soil group has an average organic matter content of 4 6 Previous crop and agronomic management information 1 Click on the Previous Crop tab Drop down menus are used here to fill in your previous c
28. sture conditions For a complete display of the economic analysis click on the wet med and dry moisture tabs Calculation equations are given in the User Manual section F Nitrogen Economic Analysis Calculations The two graphs visualize the economic analysis displaying the yield increase potential and allow you to track marginal return from increasing nitrogen applications under the three moisture levels The dark blue line of 10 Ibs N indicates the marginal cost Because the investment ratio is equal to the marginal return marginal cost the point at which the two lines intersect indicate an investment ratio of 1 The stars mark your investment ratio identifying the estimated yield and marginal return at that risk level Alert messages contain important information regarding methods of fertilizer application and other pertinent information to improve soil test results and or your soil quality Please consider these comments when making your fertilizer decisions Further information can be found on these comments in the reference section of this user manual Running scenarios AFFIRM v 2 allows you to easily run different scenarios by altering the investment ratio crop price fertilizer cost or changing the current crop Running different scenarios will allow you to understand the effect of these changes have on the economic nitrogen fertilizer recommendations TIP Any changes made on this screen eg N fertilizer cost will result in changes
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