Heuristic optimization for variable rate nitrogen and seeding decisions

The economic opportunities for combining heuristics management (herein, rules-of-thumb) with several farming technologies (uniform rate, variable rate seeding, variable rate nitrogen (N) and variable rate of both seeding and N) are modeled and investigated. Results suggest that weather-based heuristics as a strategy of selecting optimal production practices is promising for enhancing profitability. The ability to exploit interactive effects between heuristic strategies and precision agriculture technologies offers the potential to enhance profitability of both. The model shows potential for providing useful insights into improved production management decisions.