Jackson County Soil and Water Conservation District recently announced the formation of an INfield Advantage group in 2015.

A producer planting corn is eligible to be a part of the INfield Advantage program, previously known as On-Farm Network.

The program is funded through the Indiana Corn Marketing Council/Indiana Soybean Alliance with checkoff funds and is being offered free of charge to producers.

It uses aerial imagery and the cornstalk nitrate test to determine nitrogen-use efficiency in each field enrolled. Producers are not restricted on tillage, rotation, nitrogen form, timing or rate and may enroll multiple fields. The basic level of the program is called guided stalk sampling, and fields may be enrolled after planting.

Growers also may use the program to conduct on-farm research using replicated strip trials. Anyone interested in testing different management practices using replicated strip trials should contact the district prior to planting to ensure compliance with the program.

Producers may determine which management practices they wish to test.

At the end of the year, the program will supply each grower with the imagery and CSNT results from each field. Any fields with a replicated strip trial also will have an RST report. A regional report, with each field assigned an anonymous identification number, also will be available to each grower.

The statewide program is coordinated by the Indiana State Department of Agriculture.

For information and/or previous years’ results, visit infieldadvantage.org.

The CSNT results are calibrated based on Purdue University research.

Any producer interested in joining the group should contact Terry Ault at the Jackson County Soil and Water Conservation District office at 812-358-2367, ext. 3.

Applications and field maps are due to the SWCD office before June 1.