iPhone App Checks Health Of Crops

iPhone App Checks Health Of Crops CROPS Miscellaneous Checking chlorophyll levels in crops is as easy as taking a picture with an iPhone or iPad with a new app that helps identify nitrogen needs in the growing crops “You can download the FieldScout GreenIndex + Nitrogen app from iTunes and order the FieldScout GreenIndex board from us ” says Mike Thurow Spectrum Technologies “We’re also developing an app for Android phones and hope to have it out by next May or June ” To use the FieldScout app place a leaf across the GreenIndex board and take a picture The screen will show the leaf a yellow spot a green spot and a “Done” button Tap on the green spot then the yellow spot then the leaf and finally the Done button The app uses the known color values of the yellow and green colored discs to adjust for ambient light and capture the truer green value of the leaf “The handheld device generates the DGCI dark green color index of the leaf and the SPAD soil plant analysis development equivalent value ” explains Thurow “The app then gives a nitrogen recommendation It can also georeference the spot where the reading was taken and log it for later review” Thurow says the primary market for the app in 2013 is corn That’s where most validations of the technology have been made However it can be used on any crop SPAD meters have been around for 25 years but this is more affordable than a SPAD meter or a DGCI meter ” says Thurow The app is priced at $99 and the GreenIndex board is priced at $49 Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Spectrum Technologies 12360 S Industrial Drive E Plainfield Ill 60585

 ph 815 436-4440; toll free 800 248-8873; www specmeters com

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