Article taken from Agronomist & Arable Farmer MagazineA new, highly accurate, online forecasting system will help growers plan their planting, spraying and irrigation operations more effectively, says Agrovista. Growers looking to optimise returns from expensive inputs and justify their use now have access to some clever new weather and disease prediction software to help them to do just that. Forecast Pro, which has just been rolled out commercially after making its public debut at Cereals 2015, offers a range of information including a three day detailed weather outlook that shows likely spraying windows, a two week weather outlook and a disease forecasting model. The new forecasting service developed by Plantsystems, Agrovista’s specialist environmental and sustainable farming arm, provides essential information for any agribusiness, says Agrovista’s head of precision technology, Lewis McKerrow.
“As well as input costs and ultimately profits being at stake if the weather turns, environmental and end market pressures mean businesses must be able to justify inputs and operate with more efficiency.”
Forecast Pro is available on any internet enables device, either as a standalone service for an annual subscription or as part of axis Agrovista’s cloud bases data management system. The three-day outlook is divided into three hourly windows. Each window has a weather overview graphic, with details of expected rainfall, air temperatures, soil temperature, humidity and wind speed listed underneath. This data is analysed to assess spraying conditions, with each three hour period flagged up as suitable or not suitable, providing an instant check of likely spraying windows. This information can be fine tuned to optimise spray performance by clicking on the spray effect tab, which shows how well a herbicide, fungicide or insecticide treatment is expected to work (low, average or optimal) under the forecasted conditions.
The 14 day forecast, designed to aid longer term planning, contains the same key weather parameters as the three day forecast and adds evaporation rate, to indicate irrigation requirements and hours of sunlight, to provide a guide for crop growth. Users can also subscribe to pest and disease forecasts for a wider range of crops including potatoes, cereals, vegetables, grassland and fruit. These five day forecasts can aid product choice and provide justification for their use, providing instant records to help meet customer protocols if required.
“Forecast Pro is based on a 15 mile grid covering the whole of the UK,” says Mr McKErrow. “In addition, the crop model calculates weather parameters within the crop and soil. These differ considerably from information taken at standard height than other forecasts use.
“This means we can now provide a range of accurate information to growers, at any time and pretty much anywhere.”
“As well as input costs and ultimately profits being at stake if the weather turns, environmental and end market pressures mean businesses must be able to justify inputs and operate with more efficiency.”
Forecast Pro is available on any internet enables device, either as a standalone service for an annual subscription or as part of axis Agrovista’s cloud bases data management system. The three-day outlook is divided into three hourly windows. Each window has a weather overview graphic, with details of expected rainfall, air temperatures, soil temperature, humidity and wind speed listed underneath. This data is analysed to assess spraying conditions, with each three hour period flagged up as suitable or not suitable, providing an instant check of likely spraying windows. This information can be fine tuned to optimise spray performance by clicking on the spray effect tab, which shows how well a herbicide, fungicide or insecticide treatment is expected to work (low, average or optimal) under the forecasted conditions.
The 14 day forecast, designed to aid longer term planning, contains the same key weather parameters as the three day forecast and adds evaporation rate, to indicate irrigation requirements and hours of sunlight, to provide a guide for crop growth. Users can also subscribe to pest and disease forecasts for a wider range of crops including potatoes, cereals, vegetables, grassland and fruit. These five day forecasts can aid product choice and provide justification for their use, providing instant records to help meet customer protocols if required.
“Forecast Pro is based on a 15 mile grid covering the whole of the UK,” says Mr McKErrow. “In addition, the crop model calculates weather parameters within the crop and soil. These differ considerably from information taken at standard height than other forecasts use.
“This means we can now provide a range of accurate information to growers, at any time and pretty much anywhere.”