Background: precision farming – the digital revolution in agriculture
Some call it “smart farming,” others “precision farming.” But both mean the same thing: tailored cultivation of a field with the help of data analyses and digitally controlled machines. They might be drones that are equipped with cameras, fly over the field and detect plant diseases. Or robots that automatically distinguish weeds from crops and then mechanically remove the weeds.
Broad basis for decision-making
Other machines collect information on the yield in the different areas of a field during harvesting and transmit the data to a digital field file. That often shows that the yield varies considerably within the space of just a few meters. By combining all this information, farmers can build a larger and larger database over time to enable them to make more reliable decisions.
Tailored and sustainable
Machines and digital technology also help farmers put this knowledge into practice: Seed, fertilizer, water or pesticides are no longer distributed evenly over the fields, but applied in a made-to-measure way, square meter by square meter. The result: the right quantities of fertilizer and seed at precisely the right spot. That conserves resources and contributes to sustainable agriculture – to the benefit of farmers and the environment alike.
New benefits – down to the precise centimeter
Drones and satellites that fly above fields at different altitudes enable precision farming. Their cameras detect the extent of land cover or the type of vegetation. Satellites fly over the same spot every few days. The consecutive images they take reveal how the plants in a specific field are developing. Smart algorithms can be used to analyze these photos and create new benefits: It is possible to identify the growth rate or a threat of disease, the canopy closure or the ideal time of harvesting – with an accuracy down to the last centimeter. Humans alone could not do any of that. Many universities, companies and start-ups are exploring the possibilities offered by this “Farming 4.0,” as it is sometimes called in reference to the term “Industry 4.0,” i.e. connected manufacturing.
Precise control
The European Union emphasizes the importance of precision farming. A study commissioned by the European Parliament comes to the conclusion: “Considering future societal and environmental needs, the main challenge for EU agriculture will be its ability to ensure a high level of productivity while improving the protection of natural resources. Precision agriculture is an information-based, decision-making approach to farm management designed to improve the agricultural process by precisely managing each step.”
DLG: Digitalization plays an outstanding role
“The objectives of producing food and protecting the environment may conflict with each other,” states a position paper of the German Agricultural Society (DLG). And: “(…) it is therefore necessary – specifically in Germany, a prime location for agriculture – to find solutions to conflicts that are supported by broad social consensus. What is needed are new, forward-looking concepts that are tailored to the variety of locations and strengthen competition. Digitalization will play an outstanding role in that.”
A billion-dollar market
Not least, the issue is of economic importance. Agricultural experts from the consulting firm Accenture estimate that the global market for digital agriculture services will grow to 4.55 billion dollars by 2020, noting: “Greater use of digital agriculture services is vital to not only improving a farm’s financial performance, but also to meeting the food needs of an expanding population.”
Precision farming thanks to satellites: Since the 2018 season, KWS has been able to detect the ideal time to harvest silage corn - thanks to satellite images supplied by a system that is unique worldwide. If and when desired, farmers obtain a recommendation, tailored to each of their fields and sent directly to their mobile phone, on the best time to harvest their crop.
The new system, which is called “SAT TS-Monitoring” (Satellite Dry Matter Monitoring), identifies the dry matter content of plants using satellite images. “30 to 35 percent is ideal. Corn harvested with a dry matter content below 30 percent usually has too little starch. If the content is above 35 percent, there may be higher losses during storage,” explains Project Manager Fabian Böke. The spatial resolution of the system, which KWS has developed in-house, is just a few meters. That means it can analyze individual fields or parts of them. Initial trials at 90 farms throughout Germany confirm how reliable the system is in different climate areas. From 2019 on, the system will be available to all farmers throughout Germany who grow KWS’ corn varieties.
KWS is making a major contribution to particularly efficient farming with its new system. “Farmers put a lot of effort into tending their plants all season long. But harvesting them at the wrong time may mean that the resources used, such as seed, agricultural equipment, diesel fuel and working time, end up not delivering the best-possible results. Satellite-aided forecasting ensures maximum yield,” says Böke.
The farmer Matthias Ebmeyer is already using the system and confirms its advantages: “Before SAT TS-Monitoring, dry matter content was determined by manual sampling – a corn plant was wrung out. The monitoring system has made that far easier.” In particular, the ability to predict the ideal time to harvest is of great benefit when it comes to organizing logistics,” says Ebmeyer, who runs a biogas plant in addition to his farm in the Herford district.
How the system works
Satellites orbit the Earth at regular intervals and enable pictures of every single field at an almost constant cycle of about every three to four days. The corn sown there grows over time and, among other things, changes color – from light green to dark green. That means that the light spectrum reflected by the plants also changes – and the satellites pick that up. An algorithm created by KWS itself can then use those images to calculate the plants’ dry matter content very precisely. As a result, farmers can obtain the best-possible harvest of the highest quality thanks to images from space. The SAT TS-Monitoring system is available to farmers free of charge as part of the online offering “CultiVent,” provided they grow KWS varieties.
