Agronomy and crop production business ProCam is to launch FieldSense, its own precision farming platform, later this autumn. The company says the new service will give growers the benefits of precision farming without them having to master all its complexities.
FieldSense uses satellite mapping of soil and crop variability data across fields, says ProCam regional technical manager Nigel Scott, who has been integral in both developing and testing the new service. It uses this information to derive rate input applications tailored to these variations, rather than relying on a blanket approach. The aim of the system is to improve economic crop output across the field whilst bringing environmental gains. Mr Scott says the strength of FieldSense, which is easily accessed via a web browser, is that it based on a collaborative approach between the agronomist and grower, rather than growers doing everything themselves.
Mr Scott explains: “It will be the ProCam agronomist who makes sense of the satellite images, drawing on their boots-on-the-ground experience of the field and ground-truthing any anomalies that the images might reveal. This can be combined with the farmer’s own knowledge of the field as necessary. Once maps have been interpreted, the agronomist will produce variable rate files for downloading directly to the tractor that is controlling the drill or fertiliser applicator. It is precision agronomy through partnership. Growers can also cherry pick only those parts of the package relevant to their farm and machinery – and can begin by trying FieldSense over just a few hectares.”
Alex Collingwood, ProCam UK managing director, says the launch of FieldSense is the latest in a sequence of technical introductions from ProCam. It follows the launch of the soil testing and nutrient planning service SoilSense last year. “Growers face increasingly heavy workloads and pressures from legislation and environmental scrutiny,” he says, “while at the same time, farm profits are volatile and under pressure.”
FieldSense provides a way for ProCam agronomists to take some of the complexity out of precision farming for growers, while bringing greater accuracy to agronomic decisions. In the case of variable rate application of nutrients, there are also potential SFI payments available at £27/ha,” Mr Collingwood concludes.