How does Multi-Spectral Imaging help?

1. Boost yield by more than $80/acre: Too much growth regulator can reduce harvest by more than 100 lbs/acre (according to the Beltwide Cotton Conference trials). At a market price of $0.80/lb, that's a yield increase of more than $80/acre. 

2. Reduced risk when replanting: When deciding whether to replant a weak stand, the drone imagery will give you much more information to base your decision on. If heavy rain occurs right after planting, instead of replanting the whole field in order to be on the safe side, you can focus on replanting only the spots that really need it. If replanting costs $130/acre (seeds, fuel, labor, wear and tear on machines), the imaging will pay for itself if it reduces the acreage you replant by only 5%.

3. Reduce costs and boost yield with growth regulator and fertilizer: Plants that need fertilizer can be indistinguishable from those that need growth regulator. Multispectral imagery can make this distinction better than humans so you can put the right chemical in the right spot.

4. Improved defoliation can save $10/acre: By defoliating a sections of cotton as they become mature, you can reduce the number of passes necessary for complete defoliation. If a single pass of defoliant costs $20/acre, the expected savings are $10/acre. The imaging will pay for itself if you can avoid a second pass on just 35% of your cotton.

The savings come mainly from efficiently applying nitrogen and reducing drying costs through better moisture management

1. Better sidedressing saves $68-88/acre and boosts yield: The drone can effectively see through a thick canopy and better assess how much nitrogen is needed overall, as well as which areas need more or less. If fertilizer costs $170 – $220 per acre, the expected savings would be $68-$88/acre, with a break-even point of just 3%-4% (this doesn't account for the increase in yield by applying more fertilizer where it's needed).

2. Save $30/acre on drydown costs: Monitor drydown and harvest at just the right time. With a harvest of 200 bushels per acre at 20% moisture and a drying cost of $0.05 per percentage point per bushel, drying will cost $0.25 per bushel and $50 per acre. The expected reduction in moisture is 3 percentage points, which translates to $30/acre.

Tillering stage

1. Save $15-$30/acre with targeted fertilizing

2. Spot weeds more easily

Panicle Initiation

1. Accurate topdressing can boost yield $58/acre by reducing overgrowth and fertilizing where necessary -UC Davis

2. Early pest and disease detection protects yield by $40-$60/acre

Heading / Flowering 

1. Save $10-$20 in reduced fungicide application

2. Prevent crop loss by rapidly counting flowering heads -Texas A&M

The savings with sorghum come from identifying the bloom stage in order to treat for midges.

1. Protect your yield: Sorghum flowers have a unique spectral signature and are therefore easily identified in multispectral imaging. You'll know where to focus your midge scouting and when to spray each section. The imaging will pay for itself if it prevents approximately 2% of crop loss.

2. Reduced pesticide costs through targeted spraying. Estimated savings are $30-50

3. Reduced fertilizer costs: $10-$15/acre

$85/acre improved quality (incl. reduced yield)

(+$100/ton *  0.85 ton/acre) -Chandel and Khot (2021)