A variable rate prescription in FarmQA starts from a management zone. You build zones from your field data (satellite imagery, soil test results, compaction readings, or a zone file you already have), assign a rate to each zone, and export the result. The shapefile goes to your monitor, and the PDF goes to your grower or applicator. This article is the map. Each step links to its own guide.
Prescriptions require the Basic Prescriptions add-on. Advanced Prescriptions adds soil nutrient maps and formulas on top of it. You don't need Advanced to build zones or write and export a prescription.
Build management zones
Zones are built in Zone Designer.
- How zone-building methods work — See how Equal Interval, Quantiles, Natural Breaks, Custom, and Auto divide the same field, so you can pick the method that fits your data.
- Create a management zone — Build zones from one satellite image, several images at once, or your soil test results.
- Edit management zones — Reassign zones, lay a grid over the field, or split zones by image or drawn shape.
- Upload a zone map — Bring in a zone file you already have instead of building one.
- Use your compaction data to create variable rate compaction prescriptions — Turn soil compaction readings into zones. Requires the Compaction feature.
Write and export prescriptions
- Write a prescription from a management zone — Set a rate for each zone, for one product or several.
- Export prescriptions — Download a shapefile for your monitor, or a PDF with combined totals, acres receiving product, and labeled zone maps.
- Batch printing map books — Print prescriptions and other field maps for several fields at once.
Add-ons and advanced tools
- Compare Basic and Advanced Prescriptions — See what each add-on includes.
- Create a soil nutrient map — Turn soil test results into a nutrient map for a field. Requires Advanced Prescriptions.
- Run a formula on a field — Run one or more formulas across one or more fields to build zone maps from spatial data. Requires Advanced Prescriptions.