A few years ago Farmers Edge integrated daily satellite imagery into its FarmCommand® platform for the first time, this was a real boon for users because up until that point imagery was arriving sporadically and much too late, with farmers often already having made decisions about when to irrigate a crop based on their own visual inspection.
Farmer’s Edge then partnered with Planet, an integrated aerospace and data platform company that operates the world’s largest fleet of earth imaging satellites, to use and distribute imagery from Planet’s three satellite constellations – RapidEye, Planet “Doves”, and SkySat – among other sensors, to monitor crops and help growers improve their yields.
AI Crop Analysis
From too few photos to photo overload, Farmers Edge developed a new automated algorithm to analyze each new image individually, compare that to a previous image taken within the last 14 days, and then identify locations in a field where a significant change has occurred. The high-res satellite images provide enough clarity to zero in on individual trees, or specific areas of a field so corrective action can be taken at the first sign of a problem. A ‘Health Change Map’ feature was born with a Health Change Notification email sent outlining any concerns to farmers to save them time checking manually each day. A really useful piece of AI technology for growers.
Farmers Edge and Lindsay Corporation
This month Farmers Edge has partnered with Lindsay Corporation, a leading global manufacturer and distributor of irrigation and infrastructure equipment and technology. Together the two companies will integrate their digital platforms to provide customers with a fully connected crop management solution. They will also focus on a collaboration in data science, machine learning, and AI-driven analytics to deliver highly precise water-based insights and predictive models, setting a new standard in agriculture.
Farmers Edge will provide Lindsay with access to both the high-resolution daily satellite imagery it has taken years to perfect and its comprehensive field-centric dataset. Lindsay’s market-leading irrigation management platform FieldNET Advisor® will be synchronised with FarmCommand® and growers will have the ability to seamlessly share key data back and forth between the two platforms. This will provide farmers with access to combined digital tools that deliver real-time information to control pivots and monitor crop health, along with advanced predictive models to help identify issues, including:
- seeding or application errors
- tile drainage
- weather damage
- pests
- disease
The combination of the two digital platforms also enables growers to make more informed water management decisions to optimize applications and yield potential. Syncing technologies brings interesting new reporting capabilities, broadens service offerings, and strengthens digital connectivity on the farm.
Lindsay also brings Farmers Edge the FieldNET Pivot Watch™ – a remote irrigation monitoring solution that includes proprietary IoT sensors that connect to any center pivot and FieldNET Advisor, to help growers better understand when, where, and how much to irrigate.
“This integration of platforms enables growers to use tools like high-resolution satellite imagery to see a visual indication of variation in crop health across a field from the convenience of their laptop or smartphone. The connected farm strategy also enables growers to collect all aspects of field data and feed that information into FieldNET Advisor and FarmCommand. Once that data is collected, the platforms can provide AI-powered insights to ensure the most accurate decisions are being made on the farm,” said Albert Maurin, product manager for irrigation software at Lindsay Corporation. “We are excited to bring growers this evolution of our partnership with Farmers Edge, and we will continue to leverage our industry partners to deliver innovative irrigation solutions to our customers.”
This enhanced platform will be available to new and existing Farmers Edge and Lindsay growers through the Zimmatic® dealer network and the Farmers Edge sales network.
