An agronomy firm whose smartphone application uses GPS soil testing data and National Weather Service rainfall data to estimate corn yield and determine the most limiting factor will launch a new function on the app.

The new "Solver" function from Advanced Ag Solutions LLC can provide growers and crop advisers the ability to download daily recommendations that can be used to control product rates in the field. It is part of the company's Optimizer 2.0 app, which is a finalist in the Innovation of the Year category of the 2013 TechPoint Mira awards.

Company President Daryl Starr said Solver automatically provides new variable rate recommendations every night.

"We check every attribute of crop growth against every other attribute to determine which is the most limiting. Then we try an adjusted rate of the most limiting factor and look again at every attribute," he said. "If another factor needs to be adjusted, we fix it and check again until crop yields are maximized. This translates into an optimized recommendation for every zone of every field, every night, based on the weather, cropping practices and the intentions of the farmer."

Product rates can be downloaded into a file that can be taken to the field in a tractor and applied.

"We are using massive amounts of data in proprietary algorithms to streamline the decision process and provide insights throughout the growing cycle," Starr said. "Our objective is to help farmers grow more corn that helps feed the growing worldwide population."

Farmers and crop advisers interested in Optimizer 2.0's Solver function can visit http://www.optmzr.co/software.php#vr-seed to learn more. Advanced Ag Solutions is an affiliate of the Purdue Research Park of West Lafayette.