The data need of precision agriculture has resulted in an intensive increase in the number of modern soil survey equipment and methods available for farmers and consultants. In many cases these survey methods cannot provide accurate information under the used environmental conditions. On a 36 hectare experimental field, several methods have been compared to identify the ones which can support the PA system the best. The methods included contact and non contact soil scanning, yield mapping, high accuracy field soil survey using soil pits, grid based soil sampling, remote sensing with satellites and UAVs. Soil classification diagnostic features were collected from >130 individual points to assess the usability of modern soil classification systems for precision agriculture purposes.

The accuracy of the tested methods were validated on the soil map, and with the use of several years of harvester based yield maps. We have found that although all the methods have identified certain features on the field, many of these had no or minimal effect on the yield potential of the field zones, thus the usage of these tools or techniques have no or negative effect on the cropping system and on the environment. Modern soil classification diagnostic units, although in many cases neglected fo PA systems, can provide a more detailed baseline information for decision support, through the aggregated soil chemical, physical and morphological information contained in one class. With modern digital soil mapping technologies and a custom made sampling methodology these tools are comparable in speed and provide deeper knowledge on the field than the ‘modern’ quick survey techniques. Since precision agriculture is an intensively expanding market and is supposed to be one of the main tools for sustainable agriculture a broad validation of these tools should be performed to identify the soil and climatic conditions where these can be properly used with providing the required precision and reliability.