Precision Soil Mapping

In order to produce the amount of food required for an ever expanding population, farmers need to maximumise yield while minimising input costs. Precision farming - a concept based on responding to spatial and temporal differences within fields - has been adopted as a key tool by approximately one quarter of all arable farmers in the UK. It is thought that another 25% utilise some precision techniques but are not currently managing the differences within their fields, but rather just recording data. Studies have shown that variably applying seed and fertiliser, based on different soil properties, consistently give positive results. A two year experiment of variable rate nitrogen fertilisation at Cranfield University proved that detailed maps of soil fertility collected with an on-line soil sensor can result in £50 per ha. net profit to the farmer when integrated with data on crop growth. Similarly, research from the Intelligent Precision Farming (IPF), one of AgSpace's software customers, has shown variably applying seed can produce 34% more yield. However, implementation of precision farming has traditionally been a labour intensive process thus making it cost prohibitive for many growers. The current practice of precision agriculture lacks high resolution, low cost soil maps that would enable farmers to manage in-field variations. With current advances in proximal and remote sensing technology and modelling of multi-data resources, it is possible to produce these maps to enable the implementation of advanced precision farming products on a wider scale, making them affordable to a larger market. To increase yields to the levels being discussed by the Royal Society (60% by 2050) requires a collaborative approach.

This large scale collaborative project aims to integrate satellite data with the UK's most comprehensive soil datasets to produce a 'precision soil map'. The map so produces would present an economically viable alternative to current soil survey methods, while making use of these existing datasets. The level of data and technology available presents a very exciting proposal for arable and vegetable farming to embrace precision farming, enabling them to increase production efficiency, with reduced environmental impacts and at lower input costs. The reduction of environmental impacts will be largely achieved by reducing the amount of agrochemicals applied into the soil, so benefiting ground waters and surface runoff.

AgSpace will provide the raw satellite data for this project, and also ground-truthed data gathered from experimental farms. Cranfield University and the James Hutton Institute will provide access to England and Wales and the Scottish soils datasets, respectively. The project final product is a 'precision soil map' accessible to farmers at a resolution unrivaled in the UK. The new soil management zone map will enhance farmers' understanding of their own soil and will provide an economical route into the implementation of precision farming, which this consortium contends is one of the most important issues in combating yield shortages.

The project will have impact on sustainable intensive crop production. The main purpose of this project is to increase farm's competitiveness by providing precision soil maps that support improvements in spatially targeted variable rate applications of farm inputs. The integration of data on soil brightness with soil properties (England, Wales and Scottish datasets) will furnish the end users with two new advanced products that will enable exploration of spatial and temporal variation in soil properties, and will allow for precise management of farm inputs, as well as assisting in better Agricultural Land Classifications (ALCs) and other land use assessments. In summary, the approach will offer farmers an innovative and unrivaled level of detail from which to plan their operations.

There is a broad range of stakeholders, with varying and often unexpected levels of potential interest in the results of the current project. The main end-users will be farmers, farming groups and environmental agencies. In addition, service providers (i.e. contractors, precision farming service providers and agronomists) and land managers are expected to comprise the major project stakeholders. Homogeneous application of farm inputs are adopted currently by the majority of farmers (>75%) worldwide. Variable rate applications are expected to result in increasing crop yield, while concurrently reducing environmental impacts by reducing the amount of agrochemicals applied into the environment. The overall economic impact will be an increase in farming efficiency that will affect UK farmers and ultimately farmers worldwide. More profitable agriculture would advantage farmers as well as the wider national economy. It is foreseen that the economic saving due to the lowered amount of inputs applied, together with the increased yields, will overcome demonstrably the cost of adopting the envisaged new precision soil maps.

The research is expected to have a significant positive environmental impact by providing new commercial soil maps, which will enable farmers to reduce the amount of fertilisers they use, by only targeting those areas of the field where there is a need for nutrients. A reduction in fertiliser use would lead to reduced soil and ground water contamination and, therefore, this research will be of significant interest to those concerned with the presence of agrochemicals in the environment. The reduced amount of fertilisers will also reduce greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) and global warming potential (GWP), which will have a positive impact on the environment, with reference to the EU framework directive for "A thematic strategy on the sustainable use of pesticides" (COM(2006)372, COM(2006)778). In this context, water utilities, deemed to be a highly influential stakeholder group are likely to be extremely important, given their high levels of interest and influence. Since this project is expected to lead to reduction of water contamination with agrochemicals, it will reduce investment in extracting these chemicals from drinking water. Hence, commercial water companies and the Environment Agency, who are responsible for protecting the ecological status of bodies of water, will also be interested. Other potential beneficiaries from the public sector include Defra who are interested in minimising environmental impact, whilst improving food security. Fertiliser manufacturers will benefit through improving product stewardship and reduction in environmental impacts.

This project is expected to improve the reliability of management zones delineated for variable rate applications of farm input. In addition, it is expected to reduce the cost of site-specific applications by reducing the cost associated with traditional soil sampling and laboratory analyses. Therefore, manufacturers of precision farming hardware and software will benefit because it will improve their product performance and so make these products more attractive to farmers.