Sentera, Anheuser-Busch Partner to Help Rice Growers Enhance Their Fertilizer Programs and Sustainability Efforts with Predictive Modeling

By PR Newswire

Sentera has announced a partnership with Anheuser-Busch under which Sentera will deliver critical grower-level insights to forecast nitrogen demand in rice production. This technology, delivered using advanced remote sensing tools, will empower growers to improve productivity and profitability by optimizing nitrogen usage.

Anheuser-Busch’s agronomy team will deploy this technology to make precise, field-level nutrient and nitrogen prescriptions that help rice growers reach their highest quality yields.

“Nitrogen is one of the biggest input costs rice growers have today, and the correct application of fertilizer has enormous implications for plant health, yields, grower profits and the environment,” said Zach Marston, principal scientist at Sentera. “While currently there are ways to systematically manage nitrogen demand, this solution enables us to get a baseline for the field, recommend a rate and closely monitor plant health throughout the growing season to modify additional applications accordingly. Ultimately, this empowers us to make adaptive decisions regarding nitrogen applications and management.”

Rice is one of the most important cereal crops in the world and a key ingredient for brewers such as Anheuser-Busch. While nitrogen application improves grain yields and quality, excessive application of fertilizer can cause “luxuriant” growth, leaving the plant more susceptible to disease. Growth that is too rapid can also reduce stem strength, resulting in plant lodging under moderate wind conditions. In addition, over-applying nitrogen provides no benefit to the plant and has negative effects on the environment via leaching and denitrification, and on a grower’s profit margin.