Common man-made agronomic problems in corn and soybean fields that Bob Recker, owner, Cedar Valley Innovation, sees aerially often arise from uneven plant emergence/planter problems and uneven nutrient application. These July 2013 aerial photos from northeast Iowa show agronomic problems. Can you decipher them?

“If it (a pattern viewed from the air) is a straight line, man did it; if it’s a curved line, God did it,” says Recker, based out of Waterloo, Iowa, who took these aerial diagnostic photos. He typically flies in the early morning when shadows accentuate subtle crop-height differences, providing additional agronomic clues not revealed by yield monitors, he says. Plant height within a field correlates with ear size and yield.

Photos: Bob Recker, Cedar Valley Innovation, Waterloo, Iowa