Ideally, the information provided by STI can be used to set up plot boundaries so that the soil can truly serve as a control and thus improve statistical analysis, make more sense of the results, and therefore improve the practical application of what is learned.
STI has established working relationships with lead researchers at Cal Poly, Cal State Fresno, and UC Davis, to provide STI soil data for selected fields used in academic research. The addition of STI soil data will enable research to be conducted on larger fields and reduce unknown variables – generating stronger data sets and improving the quality of research.
The SIS is a key and essential element of the fourth revolution in agriculture; namely precision management. The previous three revolutions being mechanization, fertilization and hybridization/genetic engineering. Precision management, which "puts it all together", will optimize progress from the previous three revolutions and must begin with precision soil information; because the soil is a source of massive variability with inadequate consideration in management decisions, so that it truly is the "final frontier" in agriculture. Without the SIS, precision agriculture will remain a novelty and never achieve it's tremendous potential to increase productivity and profitability while decreasing environmental contamination.- Dr. John Norman, University of Wisconsin - Madison
