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Abstract
The paper analyzes site-specific and uniform
management options for wheat production with respect to
grain quality. Besides site-specific fertilization the economic
potential of segregation of different grain qualities is the
subject of this paper. Yield and quality response to fertilizer
were taken from field experiments in Germany to calculate
site-specific response functions. The economic optima were
calculated for uniform management (UM), complete separate
management of the subfields (SM), site-specific fertilization
(SSF) and grain segregation (GS) for different price structures
according to different grain qualities. The results show that
over all price structures, highest economic potential was found
with SM or SSF compared to UM. However, these
management practices require the possibility to separately
manage subfields (SM) or specific fertilization equipment and
fertilizer algorithms (SSM). GS did not have a higher
economic potential than UM. However, if required grain
qualities are not met for the whole field, GS can substantially
reduce profit losses by separating part of the grains and selling
them at higher prices. This may save the farmer more than 50
€ ha–1. In situations where higher grain qualities could only be
obtained at the expense of yield penalties, premiums for higher
grain qualities can create incentives for fertilizer rates beyond
the yield maximizing rate. GS technologies may even boost this
effect.