An autonomous vehicle platform and system for selectively performing an in-season management task in an agricultural field while self-navigating between rows of planted crops, the autonomous vehicle platform having a vehicle base with a width so dimensioned as to be insertable through the space between two rows of planted crops, the vehicle base having an in-season task management structure configured to perform various tasks, including selectively applying fertilizer, mapping growth zones and seeding cover crop within an agricultural field.

An ammonia applicator system is provided that has adjustable orifices with openings having variable sizes that can be changed remotely, without having to disassemble exit lines from a distribution manifold. In this way, the restriction of the exit lines and thus, line flow rate can be adjusted remotely and/or automatically even during ammonia application use. Each adjustable orifice may include a valve and an actuator that controls the valve for changing the size of the opening of the adjustable orifice. The actuator may be a rotary actuator, such as a stepper motor, and the valve may include an adjustment knob and a screw that can rotate to allow a needle to advance or regress through an opening of a valve body of the valve.

An ammonia applicator system is provided that has adjustable orifices with openings having variable sizes that can be changed remotely, without having to disassemble exit lines from a distribution manifold. In this way, the restriction of the exit lines and, thus, line flow rate can be adjusted remotely and/or automatically even during ammonia application use Each adjustable orifice may include a valve and an actuator that controls the valve for changing the size of the opening of the adjustable orifice. The actuator may be a rotary actuators, such as a stepper motor, and the valve may include an adjustment knob and a screw that can rotate to allow a needle to advance or regress through an opening of a valve body of the valve.

An autonomous vehicle platform system and method configured to perform various in-season management tasks, including selectively applying fertilizer, mapping growth zones and seeding cover crop within an agricultural field, while self-navigating between rows of planted crops and beneath the canopy of the planted crops on the uneven terrain of an agricultural field, allowing for an ideal in-season application of fertilizer to occur once the planted crop is well established and growing rapidly, in an effort to limit the loss of fertilizer.

An autonomous vehicle platform system and method configured to perform various in-season management tasks, including selectively applying fertilizer, mapping growth zones and seeding cover crop within an agricultural field, while self-navigating between rows of planted crops and beneath the canopy of the planted crops on the uneven terrain of an agricultural field, allowing for an ideal in-season application of fertilizer to occur once the planted crop is well established and growing rapidly, in an effort to limit the loss of fertilizer.

A combination seed planter and gaseous soil additive applicator is disclosed. The planter includes seeding modules and gas additive applying modules that are offset laterally from each other. A standard planter may be modified by replacing seed tubes with gas tubes in alternating units.