As part of strategic plans to expand representation throughout the UK, Garford approached Ben Burgess & Co following the latter’s acquisition of JW Doubleday in August last year.

Garford develops and manufactures technologically advanced mechanical weed control products, including its range of Robocrop Precision Guided Hoes and Robocrop InRow Weeders.

“We are delighted and excited to be working with Ben Burgess & Co, and expanding our coverage across new territories,” explains Andy Baggott, UK & Ireland sales manager at Garford Farm Machinery.

“This is very much the first step towards expanding our dealership network across the UK and Ireland over the coming months, and the link up with Ben Burgess & Co is a perfect fit, extending and supporting our previous relationship with JW Doubleday since 2016,” he adds.

The full range of Garford’s innovative, precision guided equipment, developed and manufactured in the UK, will now be available across the entire Ben Burgess & Co estate, covering 11 branches across East Anglia and the East Midlands, including the four outlets previously serviced under JW Doubleday.

“This is very much an ongoing relationship, providing continuity in terms of support, structure and on-going after-sales support, while opening up new territory and geographical areas for our range, as well as for bespoke requirements,” adds Mr Baggott.

David Fairman, sales director at Ben Burgess & Co, comments: “Adding UK manufactured and designed technology and equipment to our product portfolio is a real positive for us, and also ties in with our commitment to sustainable agriculture.”

Increasingly stringent controls over the use of chemical weed controls, allied to supply chain issues, will see hoeing and intercrop cultivation become the norm and common practice again, according to Mr Fairman. In part driven by necessity, but also as UK agriculture embraces its environmental responsibilities.

“We firmly believe we are already seeing a natural swing back to mechanical weeding, not only for high value and high-intensive crops, but also across broadacre crops,” he says.

With around 75% of Ben Burgess & Co’s business focused on broadacre arable, providing innovative mechanical weed control products for this market represents a huge opportunity.

“While the specialist and high-value crop growers will always use inter-row and in the row weeding, we feel it is a really exciting place to be in around mainstream broadacre and large-scale arable operations,” adds Mr Fairman.

The agreement with Garford Farm Machinery & Ben Burgess & Co was signed in July 2023, and will include full-after sales support and customer relationship management, through Garford’s dedicated development and production facilities near Peterborough.

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The Precea 12000-TCC is a new addition to Amazone’s precision seeder range.

The new trailed models stand out with their high-performance overpressure singling, large tank capacities and innovative Central Seed Supply seed delivery systems.

Central hopper concept ‒ row-by-row singling

For increased work rates and reduced fill times, the new Precea-TCC models feature a central seed hopper with a capacity of 2,000 litres for up to two big bags.

The new Central Seed Supply seed delivery system carries the seed from the central hopper to the singling units via an air stream. There, the seed for each row is temporarily stored in a small reception unit. Once this reception unit reaches the maximum fill level, the air stream is automatically cut off by the stored seed, shutting off any further supply.

When the fill level decreases again, the air stream restarts automatically and conveys new seed from the main hopper to the individual rows. Thanks to the intelligent air stream system of the Central Seed Supply, every singling unit is independently supplied with seed, without the need for complex sensor systems or electronic controls.

Precise singling across all rows

For seed singling, Amazone uses its high-precision PreTeC singling units, which function based on the overpressure principle. This means the seed is pressed against the singling disc by air pressure. The seal rotates along with the singling disc, which considerably reduces the power consumption of the electric drives for the individual rows.

The remotely controlled, automatic SmartControl stripper finger adjustment is coupled with the optical sensors and effectively prevents any misses or doubles. Meanwhile, the electrically-driven singling disc turns in relation to the forward speed and desired seed rate; conveying the seed towards the propulsion channel.

At this point, the contact pressure is broken, and the seed is shot precisely into the seed furrow, caught by the catcher roller, and securely embedded.

Meanwhile, the furrow formers ensure the precise seed placement, with two carrying rollers and the high, hydraulically adjustable coulter pressure providing uniform depth control. Amazone also offers SmartForce automatic coulter pressure regulation, which ensures that the set contact force remains constant for a consistently uniform seed placement, even in variable soil conditions.

Whereas, the ElectricDrive electric metering drive allows the desired seed rate to be conveniently set via the ISOBUS terminal and serves as the basis for precise, part-area, site-specific rate control using GPS and field zone maps.

In addition, the GPS SectionControl actively saves seed row-by-row in wedge-shaped fields and on headlands, especially at these larger working widths, and provides optimal conditions for mechanical weed control with a hoe.

CurveControl ‒ Optimised seed placement when driving round bends

The electric drive for the individual rows also make it possible to maintain evenly spaced placement across the entire working width. A yaw sensor is used to calculate the difference between the forward speed on the inside and outside of the bend.

The innovative CurveControl then adjusts the speed of each singling disc accordingly, ensuring that the seed spacing remains uniform, even around bends. The even spacing allows the plants to be adequately supplied with nutrients, resulting in homogeneous crops and even ripening.

Twin-chamber hopper for fertiliser

For the simultaneous application of fertiliser, the Precea-TCC is equipped with an easily accessible twin-chamber hopper with a total filling volume of 6,000 litres. Each hopper has its own electric metering unit that is connected to a distributor head, meaning that half-side shut-off is available as standard.

Fertiliser is placed via the FerTeC twin HD fertiliser coulter. The relationship between the placement depth of the fertiliser and the sowing depth is set only once. If the sowing depth is subsequently changed, the fertiliser automatically adjusts the fertiliser placement depth accordingly.

Telescopic running gear

The Precea-TCC is offered with 12 or 16 rows for row widths of 70, 75 and 80 cm, with a telescopic axle available for the running gear of the model. During field operation, this allows the position of over-sized tyres to be adjusted so that the wheels run between the seed rows, preventing compaction directly beneath the seed rows.

With the wheels fully retracted, the Precea-TCC can be conveniently transported by road with a total width of 3 m.

In the medium term, the programme will be rounded off with new models for those closer spaced row crops, such as beet, rape or soya beans, with row widths of 45 and 50 cm in 18 or 24 rows.

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With global population size increasing and the need for protein on the rise, consumer demand for meat continues to grow across the world. Global beef and dairy industries were valued at £394.21 billion and £388.22 billion in 2020, with the respective markets forecasted to reach £564.80 billion by 2030 and £464.61 billion by 2027.

This rising demand means an increase in pressure on farmers, especially in our challenging economic environment. Therefore, farmers will need to look to innovative techniques to reduce labour needs and costs, while also ensuring animal welfare is not compromised.

Precision technology paving the way

Steps towards automation of simple but laborious tasks in livestock farming are becoming more popular to reduce labour demands. Electronic ear tags are becoming more widespread to allow for automatic reading and weighing of animals and reduce the need for human intervention.

This simple yet effective technology is complimented by on- and off-animal sensors that aid farmers with multiple aspects of livestock management. These sensors collect valuable data which inform the farmer of both the environment and health of the animals, without the need for constant manual checks.

Alongside reducing labour costs, investing in monitoring technology comes with economic benefits for farmers, as well as improved observation of animal health-related behaviours and markers.

What technology already exists?

Recent advances have seen an increase in the use of the following on- and off-animal sensors for economic, welfare and overall farm management enhancement for beef and dairy farmers worldwide.

Activity pattern recognition

The value of artificial intelligence analysing activity patterns within cattle is becoming more recognised by the industry. Data is collected on the animal’s location, behaviour and activity levels, gait quality and feed intake, offering farmers greater insight into the health of their animals.

Through artificial intelligence and modelling, farmers are alerted to behaviours that may be indicative of disease, such as changes in gait which could indicate lameness in cattle. Farmers can then locate the animal and carry out the necessary interventions to rectify the issue, improving its welfare and consequently the yield from that animal.

Temperature recognition

Heat stress is a common issue in cattle during the increasingly warm summer months. When the temperature humidity index (THI) rises above 72, cows can begin to suffer, presenting with increased breathing rates, panting and progressive lethargic behaviour. This hinders the animals’ health and welfare and decreases production efficiency, leading to negative financial impacts.

Work has begun to implement machine learning along with integrated sensors to collect real-time temperature data in livestock. This data can then be utilised to model and predict when heat stress is likely to occur in cattle, and also identify events that may be linked to the issue.

Once temperatures are reached that indicate the onset of heat stress, farmers receive alerts allowing for the necessary interventions to be made to remediate the issue. This can also be taken a step further to enbale farmers to automatically turn on fans or open vents when certain thresholds are met as determined by AI.

Reproduction and calving

The application of machine learning can also model and predict the onset of calving in cattle and help reduce the risk of still births. Mounted towards the base of the tail, a sensor can be used to detect subtle changes in behaviour such as an elevated tail, which presents approximately six hours before calving.

As such, the use of sensor technology with built-in AI can aid early detection of labour and alert farmers so they can be on hand to assist if any issues may occur during birth. This can help decrease the frequency of still births, improving cow welfare and production efficiency.

The future with AI?

By harnessing sensor technology, cameras, and other modes of data collection, the industry is beginning to collect large banks of data. This data is extremely valuable and, if analysed correctly, can provide significant insights to help further improve current livestock systems, including calving.

These insights can then help optimise areas such as disease management, feeding regimes, and environmental conditions. With the correct applications, farmers can support their animals by providing optimal conditions for growth and welfare to benefit overall production efficiencies.

Agxio’s Apollo engine is capable of ingesting multiple forms of data, including string and image, which is then processed and analysed to provide informative data analytics that can help improve on-farm management to reach optimal conditions.

Recent work has proved the scope of Agxio’s machine learning platforms, from image analytics predicting disease to sensor intelligence assisting in environment controls and optimisations. Overall, the data collected on farms makes for an exciting prospect for the beef and dairy industries worldwide from the perspective of both animal health and welfare and farm productivity.

The post The power of AI and machine learning to optimise beef and dairy cattle appeared first on Farmers Guide.

Nick Glaves, managing director of Red Stag Media, the agency that produced the thought-provoking report.

Produced by agricultural PR and marketing agency Red Stag Media, ‘The Future of Agricultural Machinery’ report considers the future challenges facing farming, analyses the trends in agricultural machinery and aims to predict the outcomes for the next generation of farmers.

Taking into account the impact of oversized tractors on labour shortages, as well as the prospect of autonomous machines, artificial intelligence, drones, data and alternative fuels, the publication explores what agribusinesses must do to help farmers succeed in the uncertain times ahead.

Contributing experts whose insights are featured in the report include representatives from major manufacturers like John Deere and New Holland; top academics from Harper Adams and The Lincoln Institute of Agricultural Technology; leading professionals from Oxbury Bank and Whitley Stimpson; and a host of engineers, innovators and key stakeholders.

Amongst others, the report calls for greater collaboration among manufacturers and appeals to the government for action to help farmers explore alternative fuels and provide greater clarity and incentives to encourage investment in the latest technology.

The dawn of autonomous agricultural machinery is an overarching theme throughout the work, which highlights the potential of machinery-generated data to advance decision-making on farms.

Kit Franklin, principal investigator of the Hands-Free Farm at Harper Adams University, remarked: “When autonomous tractors first came out, it all seemed a bit sci-fi to farmers and, while they liked the idea, they didn’t believe it would happen in their lifetime.

“Having now seen them, 95% of farmers are positive about autonomous machines and are asking ‘when can I have one?’ There is a real appetite out there. Seeing is believing and we’ve done it.”

To promote industry-wide take-up of “intelligent” machinery, several contributors emphasized manufacturers must do more to communicate with farmers about how the next generation of machines will help drive greater profits and yields from their land.

Chris Wiltshire, UK and Ireland marketing manager at John Deere, is quoted in the reports as saying: ‘We all know that farming is changing, and businesses are having to adapt to a new policy environment. With so much technology out there to choose from, selecting the right innovations that will deliver the results they need will be key when making investment decisions.

“An autonomous tractor or a robot may be able to achieve a goal – but farmers will only invest if it’s going to benefit their business, so knowing what’s out there for them will be really important.”

Meanwhile, Nick Glaves, managing director of Red Stag Media, explained the idea for the report was sparked by discussions at agricultural shows and with people from across the industry. “The innovations in agricultural machinery are coming thick and fast and we wanted to understand how that will shape the future of farming.

“Our expert contributors have provided some fascinating insights and it paints a picture of an intelligent, data-driven and precision agricultural future that will continue to deliver the food security need.

“However, the message is clear that we must all do more to communicate these opportunities, challenges and innovations to farmers. To succeed, agribusinesses must find new ways to communicate and become part of the farmer’s inner circle, acting as a trusted adviser and delivering the information they need to make profitable decisions about the future of their farm,” he concluded.

To download the full 32-page report, visit the Red Stag Media website at www.redstagmedia.co.uk

The post New report highlights how AI could shape the future of farm machinery appeared first on Farmers Guide.

According to Ms Wilson, identifying the carbon footprint of a business is the first vital step towards being able to quantify the contribution the farm is making to climate change.

In practice, this means determining the quantity and sources of carbon dioxide (CO₂), methane (CH₄), and nitrous oxide (N₂O) emitted from the farm, which highlights current sequestration and offsetting options as well as future opportunities for reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.

Using Farm Carbon Toolkit’s free carbon calculator, farmers can measure their emissions and identify where the farm might currently be holding carbon in its woodlands or hedgerows.

Created by farmers for farmers, Farm Carbon Toolkit provides tools and services to measure carbon impact and runs projects with farmers that inspire real action on the ground.

The company’s vision is a farming sector that minimises its carbon emissions and maximises carbon sequestration, whilst producing quality food and a wide range of public goods, all produced by resilient and profitable farm businesses.

Farm Carbon Toolkit spends a lot of time measuring current soil carbon storage, working with farmers to make changes that reduce GHG emissions and improve soil health, and using information from measurements to support landowners in making impactful decisions.

Speaking of the potential benefits of managing carbon on-farm, Ms Wilson listed several reasons why farmers should consider getting involved:

• Policy drivers – UK net zero by 2050 goal
• Supply chain pressure
• It makes business sense
• It allows for more informed and better decision making
• It creates business resilience
• Provides a much-needed positive narrative
• Future-proofing
• Income generation opportunities

Ms Wilson explained the bulk of carbon dioxide emissions in agriculture come from deforestation and fossil fuel use when planting, harvesting, transporting and processing crops. Meanwhile, nitrous oxide emissions are related to how soils are managed on a farm, along with fertilisers and manure.

The third compound making up a large part of GHG emissions, methane, is released by livestock production, as well as manure and slurry storage, application and management.

Using the example of an average arable farm, Ms Wilson outlined the various sources of emissions and in what proportion they contribute to the farm’s total carbon footprint:

• Nitrogen fertiliser production and application (60%)
• Fuel use and field operations – such as different cultivation strategies, diesel use (20%)
• P and K fertiliser/manures/liming (10%)
• Sown seeds – i.e. transporting seeds to the field for planting (just under 10%)
• Crop protection (1-2%)

In working towards reducing emissions and ultimately achieving a reduction in input costs, she once again stressed the importance of farmers measuring their own carbon impact to determine hotspots and areas with scope for improvement.

Mitigation strategies

When it comes to the practical side of lowering a farm’s carbon footprint, Ms Wilson highlighted three key areas of focus: reducing energy usage on farm (cultivation strategies, diesel use, smart farming); increasing fertiliser use efficiency; and exploring ways of storing more carbon on the farm (such as by increasing woodland and hedgerows).

Specifically for arable farmers, she recommended reducing energy and fuel use through more efficient machinery usage, as well as transitioning to alternative fuels or electrical power as a possible option. Moreover, precision agriculture and tillage practices can reduce reliance on artificial fertilisers, helped by the use of cover crops and/or under-sown crops.

Emissions from mineralisation can also be reduced by mitigating soil disturbance and making adjustments to the management system relating to tillage practices and rotations, she added.

Regarding energy usage, Ms Wilson said: “Although energy costs may seem insignificant to the overall costs of an agricultural business, reducing these costs can lead to a competitive advantage and as a result increased profitability.”

She noted there’s a real economic benefit to cutting fuel and energy usage on farms, and claimed farmers can save 10% on these costs without any impact on bottom line. This equates to ten tonnes of CO₂ saved per year and annual cost savings of £2,000.

Bringing a real-life example, Ms Wilson explained how changing the establishment option for a single crop within the rotation of an arable farm has enabled the business to achieve tangible savings:

“On an arable farm using on average 105 litres of red diesel per hectare, a 10% reduction in red diesel use reduced the farm carbon footprint by 2% per kg grain sold and saved £2,500 on the fuel bill.”

While it’s not possible to eliminate all emissions from agriculture, Ms Wilson said taking action is intricately linked to improving business efficiency, resilience, and the sector’s ability to provide that much-needed climate solution.

“Farmers and growers are at the front line of climate change both in terms of being at risk but also through delivering solutions,” she added.

Concluding her talk, she urged farmers to:

• Understand their baseline
• Evaluate their options and the impact those will make
• Start by looking for the easy wins
• Join the network and spread a positive message in the industry
• Get involved

For more information on how to get started, visit farmcarbontoolkit.org.uk.

The post How measuring and managing carbon emissions can advance your farm business appeared first on Farmers Guide.

Trading as F & TL Stanier, Zak – who grows 200-240ha of potatoes annually alongside his uncle, Gary Stanier, purchased the Terracast GR granular applicator in February 2022, replacing a hybrid machine.

Zak says: “The old applicator comprised four individual hoppers, all with their own metering systems, connected to one main drive shaft that was driven by a land wheel. Although performing acceptably in dry conditions, when used in wet or heavy soils the land wheel would often pick up additional layers of soil, increasing its width which led to over-application of product. There was no auto-shut off system either, which meant that nematicide was either being under or over-applied at the headland as the tractor made each turn.

“As a competitive, family-owned potato business operating on mainly rented land, we have to be very market driven and keep a close eye on all our costs – including investment in any new machinery. However, we also realised that neither the accuracy nor the overall reliability of the farm-built machine were at the level they needed to be. The eventual decision to go with a Terracast GR that linked into the John Deere’s own Isobus control system to deliver a more even spread pattern of nematicide via a powerful air delivery system was really a ‘no-brainer’.

“With no special modifications required, we front-mounted the Terracast GR on the John Deere 6215 with our bed-tiller rear mounted for even-weight distribution. As we only require nematicide on approximately 30% of our fields, the Terracast GR can easily be uncoupled from the John Deere, with our Philip Watkins weight block remaining in place to maintain the correct overall weight balance.

“The Terracast GR is compatible with the John Deere’s own guidance system so there was no requirement for us to utilise the Techneat electronic rate controller. The Isobus functionality also means we can now receive instant application data fed back live to the farm office, detailing when the nematicide was applied, the amount, and the total area applied making application recording effortless.

“The new applicator is easy to calibrate and delivers granular nematicide into the furrows accurately, via a flexible number of fishtail outlets spread evenly across the full width of a 3.6m boom. The fishtails are currently positioned every 300mm providing double overlap and even distribution as we have enough outlets for an eventual move to a larger 5.4m boom.

“Auto-shut off at the headland – a significant problem under our old system – is now all done automatically, with the Terracast GR’s auto-shut off synchronised to the field boundaries already stored in the John Deere’s guidance system that has mapped all our fields. This takes all the guesswork away and the operator is free to concentrate solely on the positioning of the tractor as it makes the turn.

“Despite currently growing all our potatoes under a 2-bed system, the Terracast GR is already set up for our eventual move to a 3-bed system. To complete the set-up, we need only upgrade the machine’s existing 3.6m boom to a 5.4m width boom, adjusting the position of the 12 delivery outlets along the new boom to a 450mm spacing.

“Although the primary reason for investing in the Terracast GR was to improve the level of potato cyst nematodes (PCN) control on a third of our fields, we were fully aware that the machine can also apply starter fertiliser or double as a seeder unit with minimal modifications. Having already successfully completed cover crop trials last year, we now aim to widen the use of the new applicator from autumn 2024 to establish cover crops,” concludes Zak.

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The data and analytics company predicts climate change and population growth will lead to greater automation in farming by 2030, driven by the need to collect large amounts of data to maximise crop and livestock efficiency.

In its recent report ‘Tech in 2030 – Thematic Research’, GlobalData outlines how technologies such as smart crops will help the industry meet food demands. These automated, self-regulating crops will collect data such as soil quality, growth rate, nutritional content, and fluid intake via numerous sensors.

The data will then be uploaded onto agriculture technology platforms to be analysed by artificial intelligence in order to optimise farm operations. According to Global Data, 2030’s farms will be connected via Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, allowing crops to self-regulate and helping farmers make smarter decisions.

Rachel Foster Jones from GlobalData said technological advances are urgently needed in the farming industry to secure a sustainable future.

“Multiple issues are currently putting pressure on agriculture: climate change is threatening capacity, population growth is accelerating, the amount of available land is reducing, and labour shortages are worsening. Agriculture technology will promise a much-needed solution,” she commented.

Advances in plant breeding and machinery have already made major improvements to farm productivity in recent years. However, the key to the future lies in precision agriculture and genomic research that will boost sustainability and crop resilience to climate change.

As part of what GlobalData bills as the ‘fourth agricultural revolution’, smart greenhouses are becoming more widespread across the globe. Smart greenhouse-related jobs have more than tripled since the start of 2021 as shown on the graph below:

Graph showing an increase in smart greenhouse-related jobs since 2020 (Source: GlobalData Tech in 2030 – Thematic Research report).

In light of these developments, Ms Jones urged young farmers to start working on their technical skills to prepare for the future job market.

“Investment in smart greenhouses is only going to increase as the challenges facing the agricultural sector call for more automation. As automation increases, farmers will be hired more and more for their technical expertise and data processing skills, as well as their knowledge of the agricultural process.”

According to Global Data’s report, the agricultural drone industry has also experienced rapid expansion with a 14-fold increase in patents between 2015 and 2021, making it one of the fastest growing non-military drone sectors. Agricultural drones are unmanned aerial vehicles currently used in agriculture for yield optimisation and monitoring.

Ms Jones added: “Modular-based innovation will mean that drones will be able to undertake advanced crop spraying and terrain monitoring by 2030. The labour crisis and skills shortage will bolster agriculture drone demand, as they will be able to undertake time-consuming tasks.”

To learn more about GlobalData’s Thematic Intelligence report, visit: https://www.globaldata.com/store/report/tech-in-2030-theme-analysis/

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Pat runs Low Melwood Farm, in Owston Ferry, in partnership with his father. The 150ha operation grows oilseed rape, winter wheat, spring barley and spring beans. Over the past season, he has been using digital platform Xarvio Field Manager, as part of a whole field scale trial with BASF, to identify historical productivity trends dating back up-to 15 years and in-season field variation on his farm, which has allowed him to alter and target his inputs more precisely.

Xarvio Field Manager was launched in 2020 as a tool for growers and agronomists to improve collection and utilisation of data through satellite imagery, to help inform decisions throughout the season.

Growers can use the tool to access historical biomass maps, called PowerZone maps, which identify high and low performing field-zones, based on satellite data. In the summer of 2021, using the Power Zone maps, Pat found that there was a fair amount of variation between his crops and was able to manipulate his seeding rates to improve uniformity in the field.

He explained that he used the digital platform to identify historically less productive areas and then apply more seed in those targeted areas.

“It is not low-hanging fruit for a farm of our size to embrace this technology, it does come at a price – but when you have power zones, that have 15 years of data you can access, there is a value to that and I was really surprised how much data was on there,” he said.

“We have also been able to use the latest in-season satellite images to target nitrogen rates to even out fields in the early spring. We were able to create application maps for our spreader, so thinner areas received a higher rate of 60kg/ha of nitrogen and thicker areas were reduced to 40kg/ha.”

He explained that he does not see the technology as a way of using less or more inputs, but optimising the best use of what they have, according to the data shown on the satellite images.

Machinery partner

Pat has partnered with Amazone precision machinery alongside Xarvio Field Manager to get the most out of his seed, fertiliser and crop protection. Amazone manufactures a range of crop establishment and crop care equipment and has been providing seeding, spreading and spraying equipment which can be loaded with a prescription map to carry out a designated task, using information from the Xarvio app.

For this project, the Cayena tine seeder and Cirrus cultivator drill were used for crop establishment and then crop care was carried out using a ZA-TS 3200 Profis Tronic spreader and Pantera 4504 self-propelled sprayer.

Amazone Ltd managing director, Simon Brown, explained that technology is going to prove ‘vital to keeping farming viable’. He said: “We can see obvious added value for farmers when you look at potential overlap savings: chemical savings; reduction in fertiliser usage; making the best use of seed by targeting zones, and in the next year or two, we will get more and more smaller zones, that’s how we will probably keep some active ingredients going, because we’re obviously only putting them where they need to be. Everything that we do is effectively working towards these smaller zones, with more control of what’s going on.”

Targeted input approach

By altering seeding rates in August 2021, Pat was able to see improved biomass consistency across his field by May the following year. He was then able to apply this targeted input approach to his fungicide programme.

Xarvio implementation lead, Luke Pollard explained: “We discussed how to target Revystar XE for Pat’s T2 application, using the latest satellite images, to produce an application map for the sprayer. We maintained the average use at 1.25 litres per hectare, but we varied from 1.0 litre in the thinner areas up to 1.5 litres/ha where there was more biomass and more green leaf area”

Luke added that using a new piece of hardware called Xarvio Connect – which physically connects to the terminal within the machinery – growers can wirelessly ping data backwards and forwards from the Field Manager system to the terminal.

“This allows a grower to, for example, send an application map for liquid fertiliser or crop protection to the sprayer terminal wirelessly,” he said.

Pat concluded: “I’ve been in this game long enough to know that we’ve been able to create many pretty maps for many years, but now a grower my size can actually utilise them,” he said. “It is not information overload, and it comes back to the profitability and efficiency of this farm and it is making an impact. We can all walk and look at our farms and assess them to an extent, but having a tool like this gives you the ability to back up your decision-making process.”

The post Digital decision-making tool helps to deliver on-farm efficiency appeared first on Farmers Guide.

One of the biggest problems for farmers investing in new precision farming technology is green-on-green, i.e the targeting of green weeds in a green crop. Farm tech is often unable to identify the weeds to guide a sprayer system for precision targeting.

Now, SoilEssentials, the precision farming solutions pioneer, based in Angus, Scotland has harnessed expertise from the space industry along with agronomists and leading academics, to develop AI to overcome the green-on-green challenge.

Their project SKAi (The SoilEssentials KORE Artificial Intelligence platform, pronounced sky) has developed AI components which can be trained to recognise broad-leaved weeds growing in grass crops and then take control of a crop sprayer to implement targeted control as the machine progresses through the crop. The re-trainable smart camera has been programmed with vision in order to recognise, map and precision apply agrochemicals to crops.

Dr. Gregor Welsh from SoilEssentials, explained: “Green-on-green species recognition is probably the biggest challenge we must overcome if farmers are to benefit from the efficiencies of automated targeted weed control in the future.

“I am delighted to report on the progress our SKAi project has made towards overcoming this challenge. We are now able to train SKAi to target weeds in grass fields and automate the sprayer control via our machine-mounted hardware.

“The new SKAi technology operates in real-time, meaning there is no need to pre-map the field, the on-board AI is set-up to constantly scan the vegetation, identify and selectively treat the weeds as the sprayer boom passes over. Trials of the system are showing high levels of success in the spraying of docks in grass fields and we are confident that our partnership will be able to progress SKAi until it can recognise and differentiate between a wide range of weed and cash crop species.”

Graham Ralston, hardware director at SoilEssentials commented on the potential rollout of the new SKAi technology to the wider farming industry:  “Targeted weed control, resulting in reduced input costs and reduced environmental impact, is a win-win for farmers seeking more sustainable use of agrochemicals.

“There are many situations where blanket herbicide application across a whole field is undesirable – I’m thinking of broadleaf weed control in swards containing clover, for example. Ultimately, our challenge is to refine the technology until targeted control can be achieved even in what would appear to be difficult scenarios, e.g. blackgrass in wheat crops. And, of course, we must also make sure that the system makes affordable economic sense versus existing spray application methods.”

SoilEssentials are partnered in the InnovateUK funded project by Deimos Space UK, University of the West of England and Scottish Agronomy Ltd.

Prof. Mark Hansen, of the University of the West of England Centre for Machine Visions, said: “For UWE Bristol, being a part of the SKAi team gives us the opportunity to transfer academic knowledge into the real world in a cutting-edge project that will bring huge environmental benefits.”

VISIT THE WEBSITE HERE

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The download became live and available to all Gatekeeper users on Tuesday 6th July 2021.

“This development reflects the importance of integration between our respective systems,” says Ben Hatton, head of sales at Farmplan. “Claas have been a longstanding partner and we are delighted to bring the benefits of this relationship to our mutual customers.”

Farmers, growers, agronomists, and advisors across the UK regularly use Gatekeeper as their trusted crop management tool. This new update will let those users who operate Claas machinery – and their Telematics software – to wirelessly transmit data sets between Claas and Gatekeeper seamlessly and instantly.

“Previously, farmers may have been downloading their collected field data onto USB storage or downloading data from the Telematics website,” says Andrew Wolff, product manager at Farmplan. “This update completely removes the need for all those extra steps, freeing up time on the farm while ensuring all your data is immediately accessible, preserved, and secure.”

This functionality allows a seamless experience for farmers that use both Gatekeeper and Claas machinery as part of their daily workflow. At the touch of a button, all relevant data can be accessed and managed. Integration also ensures that all data sets are refined and ready for use to ensure minimal admin and more practical usage on the farm.

“In many ways, farming has become more disparate,” says Andrew. “For example, if there’s a lot of contracting taking place, a farmer might not have their usual immediate insight into what’s going on with each field. This update removes that barrier. The closer level of integration lets you know the exact situation on your farm at any time.”

The new update will also provide greater support for precision farming. Users can instantly upload their Gatekeeper boundaries straight to Claas Telematics – vital for the UK, where boundaries can change yearly in line with stewardship schemes and other circumstances.

“Essentially, we allow your data to move along a two-way street,” says Andrew. “Every year, you can upload your crop area boundaries and the data is adjusted accordingly. This upgrade brings those two silos of data into one.”

“The direct link between Claas Telematics and Gatekeeper will save a huge amount of time for our customers,” says Edward Miller, UK product manager at Claas. “Being able to synchronise data with a few clicks could not be easier.”

The update is now available for download, allowing farmers to utilise and leverage their data more effectively through greater integration. “It’s the best of both worlds for Gatekeeper and Claas Telematics users,” adds Andrew. “The new update will support agile and effective work while helping to create a more integrated farming world for everyone.”

The new Gatekeeper/Claas integration update is available to download now. CLICK HERE to learn more.

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