Extension Communications
3614 Administrative Services Building
Ames, Iowa 50011-3614
(515) 294-9915
1/2/02
Contacts:
Craig Tordsen, Department of Agronomy, (515) 294-1938,
ctordsen@iastate.edu
Del Marks, Continuing Education and Communication Services, (515) 294-9807,
delmarks@iastate.edu
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Comprehensive Crop Database Now Available
AMES, Iowa -- Looking for unbiased corn and soybean yield results, sorted by variety, in a specific area of the state? Want a program that you can use to track herbicide applications and produce restricted use pesticide reports? Need improved fertilizer recommendations? Want to develop a nutrient management plan? Need to meet Iowa Department of Natural Resources manure nutrient management reporting requirements? Trying to track green leaf spot testing and hybrid resistance in your area?
The Iowa Crop Management Database (CMD) can help, says Craig Tordsen, an extension agronomist at Iowa State University. With the Iowa CMD producers can make comparisons of corn and soybean yields for different tillage practices (including no-till); establish realistic yield goals; generate crop nutrient recommendations; record manure nutrient information; analyze enterprise costs and profitability; maintain restricted use pesticide information and much more.
And new to this year's CMD is the Iowa Crop Performance Test, provided by the Iowa Crop Improvement Association (ICIA). The Iowa Crop Performance Test offers unbiased, third-party information about the performance of currently offered hybrids and varieties of alfalfa, barley, corn, oats, soybeans, and wheat.
Producers can use the Iowa CMD as a decision-making tool to record crop information in any farming operation. Tordsen says the program can organize information, produce tables, and keep records from the whole farm down to sub-field levels.
The program is very flexible -- allowing for as much or as little information as each producer's record-keeping system requires. The database includes soil survey data for 97 of Iowa's 99 counties and is designed in a way that producers only have to enter information once to generate every calculation, plan, and report.
The cost is a one-time fee of $100. The Iowa Crop Performance test information will be updated each year for free. The system requires users to have a Windows 95 or later computer, a CD-ROM drive, 35 MB of available hard drive space and a VGA monitor.
For more information or to get a copy of the Iowa CMD, contact Craig Tordsen at Iowa State University, (515) 294-1938, or via e-mail at (ctordsen@iastate.edu).
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Extension programs are available to all without regard to race, color, national origin, religion, sex, age, or disability.