Danish Agro will offer digital fingerprints of farmers’ fields
12/02/2020
The Danish Agro group has entered into an exclusive agreement with the Canadian company, SoilOptix.
The Danish Agro group has entered into an exclusive agreement in The Nordic countries and the Baltic States with the Canadian company, SoilOptix, to offer digital fingerprints of the Danish farmers’ fields that will be far more detailed than traditional soil sample analyses.
SoilOptix has developed a scanner that, when attached to a vehicle, will measure the gamma radiation from the fields’ soil layers hectare by hectare. The measured radiation data is analysed via mathematical models and calibrated via the use of a few traditional physical soil samples that are also collected by the vehicle. Together, this provides a precise snapshot of the field’s condition across more than 20 parameters. This includes data on texture, pH, phosphor, potassium, magnesium, boron, copper, etc.
Group CEO of Danish Agro, Henning Haahr, is very pleased with the potential of SoilOptix.
“With our new setup, where we will be offering digital fingerprints of the farmers’ fields, we can provide a far more detailed and precise image of the conditions in their fields compared to what is currently available. Today, a soil sample is normally taken from each hectare when a field is to be analysed. The results from the SoilOptix scanner is the equivalent of taking 800 physical soil samples per hectare,” says Henning Haahr, and continues:
“The fact that we can use SoilOptix to measure more than 20 parameters in a field first and foremost provides the farmer with an understanding of what his field needs and its state of health. In addition, we see great potential in comparing this data with weather data from our weather stations from FieldSense and satellite images of previous years’ biomass growth. This makes the allocation maps, which are also prepared in FieldSense’s online platform, even more precise and valuable. The objective is for the farmer to use this knowledge to get a high yield crop and not least uniform high quality,” he concludes.
SoilOptix’s scanner will undergo its final testing in the coming months by a number of farmers, so the system will be ready to be offered to Danish farmers later in 2020.
The farmers will be able to book a SoilOptix scan of their fields from Danish Agro.