RE:Croptimalkidl, did you read the article referenced in the Croptimal Tweet? You couldn't be more wrong when you say "
it’s not really time sensitive as in days or even weeks as it’s largely a post harvest / pre-planting issue." Actually, the second sentance of the article in the Tweet says: "
Predicting how much crop-available nitrogen will be in fields next spring is challenging." ....and the last sentance of the "takeaway" says: "Nitrate-N amounts can change quickly, so sampling in the spring may be more beneficial than fall sampling in geographic areas like Iowa where rainfall can accumulate quickly." You are basically contradicting the main point of the article you referenced.....and it is a well-established point that nitrogen testing is time critical because the nitrogen cycle is affected by many climatalogical factors and is highly variable.
This article from Penn State on Pre-sidress Nitrate Tests (PSNT) is also emphasizing the importance of taking nitrogen tests immediately before the most critical growth period of the plant....AND GETTING RESULTS QUICKLY to apply fertilizer at the appropriate rates:
Penn State Pre-Sidedress Nitrogen Testing Recommendations If you actaully read the article above, you'll also notice they refer to using a chlorophyl meter to measure infered nitrogen levels based on the chlorophyl level in the leaves. Croptimal will be able to measure actual N-concentrations in the leaves.....again....better data....better fertilizer recomendations....better yields.
Farmer's Edge is calculating available nitrate-N by extrapolating the climatological factors of the nitrogen cycle, but it says "more field centric data than anyone in the industry".....as any scientist should realize actual real time measurements would be preferred. Do you think they could benefit from a fast and accurate method of measuring nitrate?
Additionally, the soil sampling methods in both of these articles refer to collecting and compositing core samples from many different areas of a field to characterize large areas as homogenous, to reduce the number of samples needing to be sent to the lab. If the farmer has a quick analytical tool to use in the field, he can obtain more precise data and make more precise fertilizer applications.