The back office isn’t the only place Royster-Clark is innovating through technology; in the fields, the company is implementing a variety of other emerging technologies as well. The most complex of these is a series of applications that make up an effort known as Precision Agriculture. The project uses GPS technology to pinpoint exactly how much of a certain kind of fertilizer to drop where.To determine this equation, Royster-Clark agronomists take geo-referenced soil samples from a farm and send them to a laboratory for analysis. Once lab specialists identify which nutrients exist in the soil, the data is correlated with soil type (sandy, clay and so on) into a database that also incorporates the type of crop a farmer plans to grow. The database runs an algorithm designed to determine which fertilizer must be applied to achieve optimum yield. This information is then fed remotely into a GPS device that instructs farmers how to feed their crops for maximum growth.Today, Royster-Clark has nearly 1 million acres of land involved in some form of precision agriculture. According to Managing Director of IT Robert Paarlberg, as the company obtains soil sample results, yield data and other information, it compiles those figures into a database to make future fertilization recommendations even better. Related content feature Key IT initiatives reshape the CIO agenda While cloud, cybersecurity, and analytics remain top of mind for IT leaders, a shift toward delivering business value is altering how CIOs approach key priorities, pushing transformative projects to the next phase. By Mary Pratt May 30, 2023 10 mins IT Strategy IT Leadership opinion Managing IT right starts with rightsizing IT for value While there are few universals when it comes to saying unambiguously what ‘managing IT right’ looks like, knowing how to navigate the limitless possibilities of IT is surely one. By Thornton May May 30, 2023 6 mins Digital Transformation IT Strategy IT Leadership brandpost Designing the campus of the future starts with high-quality 10Gbps connectivity By Huawei May 30, 2023 4 mins Network Architect Networking Devices Networking feature Red Hat embraces hybrid cloud for internal IT The maker of OpenShift has leveraged its own open container offering to migrate business-critical apps to AWS as part of a strategy to move beyond facilitating hybrid cloud for others and capitalize on the model for itself. By Paula Rooney May 29, 2023 5 mins CIO 100 Technology Industry Hybrid Cloud Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe