Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Welcome and introductions: The on-site group convened at the Agriculture Autonomy Institute at Mississippi State University. Initial welcome was offered by the MSU Vice President of the Division of Agriculture, Forestry, and Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Keith Coble. Himself a champion for data-driven decision making and precision agriculture, Dr. Coble took a personal interest in offering encouragement to participants and his support for our project. Participants introduced themselves to each other following this welcome.

Sessions. The group engaged with outside speakers for two morning sessions. The first was dedicated to on-farm decision making and featured presentations from Ryan Magness and Ivo Müller of Southern Ag, followed by Dr. Mark McConnell from the MSU Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Aquaculture. Key points of discussion from the session: (1) Research supports reduced seeding rates can produce higher yields at lower cost. Who do we encourage producers to reduce seed populations when we are up against industry models that suggest higher populations, not lower populations, are the solution to poor stand? (2) How do we incentive profitable conservation enrollment on underperforming acres for the long term? The second session focused on planting technology with presentations from group members as well as Dr. Wes Lowe from the MSU Department of Agricultural and Biological Engineering. Key point of discussion from the session: At what point does the decision to purchase capable farm equipment generate a return on investment?

Updates. Following the lunch break, the Teams meeting commenced to allow virtual attendees to participate. All on-site members provided university updates for their respective universities and on-line attendees also gave reports for their units. Dr. Steve Thomson from USDA NIFA provided an update on the funding outlook and key programs that are of particular interest to the group.

Business meeting. Dr. Muthukumarappan led off the discussion about the future of NCERA180. This project is slated to end in 2027, thus, to continue the group needs to pursue writing a new proposal. The consensus was that the members present found the coordination and interaction valuable and were interested in pursuing re-application. Some discussion was held to ascertain if it would be advantageous to transition from an ERA type group to a research group; however, this would largely remove thrusts related to education and Extension and these activities are meaningful to the broader group. Thus, the decision was made to continue as an ERA despite the challenges this poses to obtaining travel funds at most universities. Some potential suggestions to alleviate this concern included holding the meeting in conjunction with other well-attended meetings popular with the membership (e.g., ICPA, ASABE, CANVAS). In anticipation of this outcome, a draft re-application proposal and a membership survey was presented. The survey is intended to obtain feedback on future objectives and activities. The survey will be circulated within the members to allow broad participation from those who were not able to attend. Based on the feedback, the new proposal will be finalized and submitted in advance of deadlines. A new section has been added to the application that specifically requests information related to collaborative grants and other funding opportunities.

Tours. On the second day, the on-site participants visited MSU research facilities to interact with MSU researchers and witness demonstrations. The first stop was a trip to the Bearden Dairy Research Farm where Dr. Marcus McGee and graduate students discussed their advanced systems for livestock management. These include a robotic herding platform that uses computer vision and sensing systems and an integrated camera-accelerator system that monitors cow health and activity to collect data on breeding and health within herds. The second stop was at the Leveck Animal Research Center and featured demonstrations and discussion first on computer vision-based weed control in turfgrass provided by Dr. Jay McCurdy from the MSU Department of Plant and Soil Sciences. Dr. McCurdy and his team discussed opportunities and challenges related to dallisgrass control in managed turfgrass and their experience with the Ecorobotix AURA, which was also available for demonstration. The group then continued to meet the team from the Agricultural Autonomy Institute who led demonstrations and discussions on spray drone technology and open needs for research and extension. Excitement was palpable as the group returned to the air-conditioned delights of the Institute’s mechatronics laboratory on the last stop of the tour. Participants were able to interact with a cohort of graduate students working under Dr. Hussein Gharakhani as individual students discussed their research projects and demonstrated robotic systems for crop management.

• Future meetings are planned for the Ohio State University (2027), organized by John, Elizabeth, and Natasha, the University of Georgia (2028), organized by Lauren and Simer. The 2028 meeting will be aligned to ICPA.
• Alex Thomasson will lead an effort to propose a white paper to CAST. The group identified this as a mechanism to drive political will for lasting conservation adoption following comments made during the first session.
• Joby Czarnecki will coordinate the re-application process and final report needs with the members. The draft submission of the re-application is due Oct 15.

Peer-Reviewed Papers/Publications:

• Virk, S.S., M. Tucker, G. Harris, A. Smith, M. Levi, and J. Lessl. 2025. Efficacy and Economics of Different Soil Sampling Grid Sizes for Site-Specific Nutrient Management in the Southeastern USA. Agronomy, 15(4), 903.
• *Sapkota, M., S.S. Virk, R.C. Kemerait, E.P. Prostko. 2025. Effect of Carrier Volume and Nozzle Type on Spray Deposition within the Canopy, Disease Control and Yield in Peanut. Crop, Forage & Turfgrass Management. 11(1): e70028.
• Milner, H., J.C. Díaz-Pérez, S.S. Virk, X. Luo, C. Tyson, and T. McAvoy, T. 2025. High Planting Density Twin-row Arrangement Produces Favorable Bulb Size Distribution in Short-day Onion. HortTechnology, 35(4), 513-516.
• Cohrs, C.W., A. Lyons, T.J. Albaugh, D.R. Carter, O.C. Campoe, R.A. Rubilar, M. Sumnall, A. Trlica, M.V. Corrao, S.S. Virk, R. Lester, R. & R.L. Cook, 2025. Precision forestry in actively managed loblolly pine plantations: Leaf area index response one growing season following a variable-rate fertilization. Forest Ecology and Management, 595, p.122989
• Virk, S.S. and A. Gamble. 2025. Precision Soil Sampling Considerations for Site-Specific Nutrient Management. ANR-3181. Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Auburn, AL.
• Virk, S.S. 2025. Electric Drives for Seed Metering on Row Crop Planters. ANR-3175. Alabama Cooperative Extension System, Auburn, AL.
• Whitford, F., S.S. Virk, S. Li., A. Helms, B. Young,….., K. Smith. 2025. The Evolution of Spray Drones: Their Capabilities and Challenges for Pesticide Applications. PPP-154. Purdue Extension, West Lafayette, IN.
• Hawkins, E.M., Fulton, J. P., Wilson, A. B., & Karhoff, S. 2026. Improving research and insights through the aggregation of on-farm experimentation data. Agronomy Journal, 118(1), e70297. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.70297
• Pereyra Picabea, V.M., C. Hernandez; T. Hefley; A. Sharda; P.V. Vara Prasad; L. Puntel; G.R. Balboa; D. Moseley; J. Irby; E. Francisco; André F. B. Reis; A. Prestholt; J. McDanel; Matthew Carroll; S.N. Casteel; R. Pearson; J. Pristolas; M. Pal Singh; P. Kovács; M.H. Ostile; J.P. Fulton; P. Kyveryga; I.A. Ciampitti.  2026. Regional drivers of soybean farmers’ seed protein and oil concentration.  Field Crops Research.  335, 110176. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fcr.2025.110176
• Hawkins, E. M., Fulton, J. P., Douridas, A. R., Bennett, A., Estadt, M., Hartschuh, J., and Barclay, D. L. 2025. Survey analysis of on-farm research influence on farmer decision-making. Agronomy Journal, 117(5), e70176. https://doi.org/10.1002/agj2.70176
• Gauci, A.A., Lindsey, A., Shearer, S.A., Barker, D. Hawkins, E.M. and Fulton, J.P.. 2025. On-farm experimentation: assessing the effect of combine ground speed on grain yield monitor data estimates. Precision Agric 26, 11. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11119-024-10210-4
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Scientific Presentations:

• Virk, S.S., D.J. Beasley, J. Sizemore and S. Singh. 2025. Investigating the Benefits of Advanced Planting Technologies in Southeastern Row Crops. 2025 ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.

• *Singh, S., S.S. Virk and C. Byers. 2025. Spray Deposition and Efficacy of Drone Fungicide Applications in Peanut. 2025 ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.
• *Beasley, D.J., S.S. Virk, T. Colley, C. Kamere and A. Gamble. 2025. Evaluation of the Different Soil and Crop Spatial Properties for Delineation of Management Zones for Precision Soil Sampling. 2025 ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.
• *Sizemore, J., S.S. Virk, S. Li, and A. Gamble. 2025. Effect of Application Height, Spinner-Disc Design and Rotational Speed on Distribution Uniformity of Cover Crop Seeding with Drones. 2025 ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.
• *Bhat, A., J.L. Snider, S.S. Virk, V. Prakash and J.M. Lee. 2025. Yield and Yield Driving Physiological Traits Under Different Nitrogen Rates and Mepiquat Chloride Strategies in Cotton. 2025 ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.
• *Bhat, A., S.S. Virk, J.L. Snider and C. Byers. 2025. UAV-Based Multispectral & RGB Imagery to Model Canopy Light Interception in Cotton. 2025 ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.
• *Singh, S., S.S. Virk, S. Li, and E. Francisco. 2025. Spray Deposition and Uniformity within the Corn Canopies for Drone Fungicide Applications. 2025 ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.
• Beasley, J., S.S. Virk, A. Gamble, and T. Knappenberger. 2025. Validation of Management Zones for Estimating Nutrient Variability in Agricultural Fields in the Southeastern US. 2025 ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.
• *Sizemore, J., S.S. Virk, S. Li, and A. Gamble. 2025. Application Rate and Uniformity Assessment for Cover Crop Seeding with Drones. 2025 ASA, CSSA, SSSA International Annual Meeting, Salt Lake City, UT.
• S.S. Virk, S. Singh, C. Byers, R. Meena, L.C. H, and E. Barnes. 2025. Spray Performance and Effectiveness of Cotton Harvest-Aid Applications with Unmanned Aerial Systems (UAS). 2025 ASABE Annual International Meeting, Toronto, Canada.
• Virk, S.S., C. Byers, R. Meena and J. Sizemore. 2025. Assessing In-Swath Deposition and Spray Drift from Unmanned Aerial Application Systems Equipped with Rotary Atomizers. 2025 ASABE Annual International Meeting, Toronto, Canada.
• *Sizemore, J., S.S. Virk, S. Li, and A. Gamble. 2025. Application Rate and Distribution Uniformity of Cover Crop Seeding with an Unmanned Aerial System (UAS). 2025 ASABE Annual International Meeting, Toronto, Canada.
• *Meena, R., S.S. Virk, G.C. Rains and W.M. Porter. 2025. Assessing Performance of a Boom Sprayer for Site-Specific Applications at Varying Ground Speed and Look-Ahead Settings. 2025 ASABE Annual International Meeting, Toronto, Canada.
• *Harris, L., T. Rehman, S.S. Virk, W. Foshee, and D. Russell. 2025. Precision Weed Management to Support Sustainable Vegetable Production in Southeastern United States. 2025 ASABE Annual International Meeting, Toronto, Canada.
• *Bhat, A.K., S.S. Virk, J.L. Snider, V. Prakash and C. Byers. 2025. UAV-Based Multispectral Imagery to Estimate Yield-Drivers in Cotton under Varying N & PGR Management Strategies. 2025 Beltwide Cotton Conference, New Orleans, LA. New Orleans, LA.
• *Bhat, A.K., J.L. Snider, S.S. Virk, J. Lee and V. Prakash. 2025. Physiological Yield Drivers at Key Growth Stages in Response to Nitrogen and Plant Growth Management. 2025 Beltwide Cotton Conference, New Orleans, LA.
• *Beasley, J., S.S. Virk, A. Gamble, and T. Knappenberger. 2025. Implications of Different Soil Sampling Strategies in Cotton Fields with High Nutrient Variability in the Southeastern United States. 2025 Beltwide Cotton Conference, New Orleans, LA.
• *Singh, S., S.S. Virk, C. Byers, R. Meena, L.C. H, and E. Barnes. 2025. Assessing Spray Deposition and Defoliation Efficacy of Cotton Harvest Aids Applied with Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). 2025 Beltwide Cotton Conference, New Orleans, LA.
•  Harris, R., S.S. Virk, T. Rehman, and D. Russell. 2025. Weed Detection in Vegetable Crops using YOLO: A Performance Analysis Under Different Conditions and Settings. 2025 Agricultural Equipment & Technology Conference, Louisville, KY.
• Sizemore, J., S.S. Virk, S. Li, and A. Gamble. 2025. Application Rate and Uniformity Assessment for Cover Crop Seeding with Drones. 2025 Agricultural Equipment & Technology Conference, Louisville, KY.