Eastern Virginia Agricultural Research and Extension Center

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Eastern Virginia Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Warsaw, Virginia

Eastern Virginia AREC in Warsaw, Virginia is one of 11 ARECs under the Virginia Agricultural Experiment Station. It was established in 1912 and serves Virginia's grain and soybean industries through research and educational programs leading to improved varieties and crop production practices. Our research objectives are to support Virginia's grain and soybean producers through applied agronomic research that enhances their bottom line, and to support the Virginia Tech small grain and soybean breeding programs.

Variable rate technology is an expensive transition for farmers, requiring a large up-front cost with the intent to improve efficiency on the farm over time. While research in the Midwest has found that variable rate technology has the potential to reduce fertilizer by up to 41% through precise recommendations, little research has been done in Virginia to determine the return on investment (ROI) to growers.

Through a series of listening sessions with producers across the state, growers indicated that their number one need is a breakdown of ROI for variable rate lime, potash, and seeding prescriptions. With funding from an integrated internal competitive grant from the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, the AREC is working with several growers across the state to evaluate the ROI when implanting pre-plant variable rate fertility applications on Virginia grain farms.

This research is a collaboration between Joseph Oakes, EVAREC Superintendent; Carrie Ortel, Extension Soybean Agronomist; and Robbie Longest, Essex County ANR Extension Agent. The main potential impact is to provide Virginia growers and extension agents with unbiased, research-based ROI information as to how long or what farm size is needed to break-even or turn a profit when using variable rate technology.