By partnering with Planet, aerospace and data analytics company, Farmers Edge will offer satellite images more frequently—every one to three days.
“It’s a sole distributorship in the majority of the key ag markets such as Canada, U.S., Brazil, Argentina, South Africa, Australia, former Soviet Union and others,” says Wade Barnes, president and CEO of Farmers Edge. “Farmers see the power of imagery and want more—thus farm what we’ve been getting is data every one to three days. I’ve been getting it every day on my own farm.”
Planet says they have the highest number of satellites available which means even with potential cloud cover farmers should still receive images frequently and at a high enough resolution to identify potential issues. The company will combine the satellite images it receives from Planet with analytics software to assist farmers throughout the growing season.
“What we’re finding is with higher resolution and frequency we can ID where there is insect damage in crops early stages, which could tell farmers if they need to replant,” Barnes adds. “We can also identify fertilizer stripping which can be used to adjust fertilizer application later and save yield.”
Farmers can see all of this information from their office on their Farmers Edge program—saving time scouting. And when farmers do enter fields to scout, they can pinpoint problem areas to check on again later in the season.
“Farmers Edge is consistently at the cutting edge of innovation in agricultural technology, and we’re proud to expand our partnership with them as we work to improve profitability, sustainability, and efficiency for the world’s producers,” said Will Marshall, CEO of Planet. “The challenges faced by the agriculture industry are complex in nature and global in scale, and we believe our data is uniquely positioned to solve agricultural challenges.”
Farmers Edge costs from $2 to $4.5 per acre depending on the level of service provided.
