WITH NEW technology for arable farmers continuing to grow at astonishing pace, making the most of your farm data will be a key element of The CropTec Show which is being held at the East of England Showground, Peterborough, on November 29 and 30.

Industry leaders in precision farming software, hardware and techniques are destined to be at this important industry event and many of the trade stands and technical seminars all have the aim of helping growers fine-tune cultivations, establishment, inputs, and harvesting, and provides accurate yield forecasts to help plan the storage and sales of harvested crops.

Here's a few of the hi-tech offerings:

* Rezatec is offering a suite of data services at CropTec. It claims its agricultural monitoring and harvest yield analytics employ a unique combination of crop growth models driven by weather, management, genetic and soil parameters, which are combined with satellite data and machine learning to give an unrivalled insight into farming productivity.

Decision-support tools derived from the process deliver a range of benefits, such as improved crop yields, lower production costs, and the ability to measure and monitor crops, forecast yield and improve supply chain resilience.

* Agrovista’s precision team will explain how rapid and highly accurate sampling of soils and new drone technology integrate with the company’s cloud-based crop management system, Axis, for more cost-effective farming.

It has upgraded to a new soil-scanning machine, the Veris U3, which measures key soil data such as pH, organic matter levels, electro-conductivity (to ascertain soil type) and topography to ensure appropriate fertility management strategies are employed. This can be towed by a 4x4, UTV or tractor at speeds of up to 16kph in 12m bouts.

Agrovista also uses drones and process data, such as establishment, biomass presence of weeds and diseases and plant counts, for a wide range of crops.

* SOYL will unveil five precision innovations. ZoneSwitch allows the automatic switching on or off of granular applicators, enabling the operator to automate patch application within fields; a new ‘Active’ mode for the variable rate app iSOYL will be introduced enabling problems or features to be logged whilst spraying or applying fertiliser; improvements have been made to SOYL’s web-based precision crop service MySOYL, including performance maps that combine yield data over multiple seasons and it also now allows users to see past weather data for their farm.

A new variable rate nitrogen approach for spring barley uses layers of map data related to historic spring barley yields, soil surveys and satellite imagery to create areas of high and low yield potential.

* Agrii’s SoilQuest Precision Agronomy service evaluates soil and nutrient data to advise on the specific needs of individual farm businesses by creating and using accurate field maps.

These are combined with accumulated grower and agronomist farm knowledge to divide fields into separate management zones to put nutrients where they are needed.

* SoilSmart, part of ACS Farm Image, is expanding its range of tailored sampling and analysis packages to include precision sampling and smart scanning.

The former uses GPS technology to systematically sample a field, taking 16 cores/ha, or a specific number of samples/ha at the request of the farmer, enabling precision maps that show field zones for pH, P, K and Mg to be produced.

Smart Scanner uses in-field scanning equipment adding analysis of organic matter, soil texture (electrical conductivity) and topography via a Veris U3 soil scanner, which can to take 200 readings/ha and form on-the-go field maps via an on-board tablet.

Meanwhile it's drone-based Opti-cal system provides cutting edge drone software and hardware solutions and can support growers entering the world of aerial survey work.

* The Landmark Team is demonstrating the latest version of Geofolia, which is due to be released in January. This crop-recording system covers crop assurance, stock records, costings and mapping all in one place, avoiding the need for multiple spreadsheets, and also with a cloud and mobile app option to aid manager and operator alike.

* 30MHz uses wireless sensors and an intuitive analytics dashboard to help farmers monitor greenhouses, fields, storage or processing facilities. Developed in collaboration with Dutch farmers, the Smart Sensing Toolkit is scalable, flexible, durable and deploys out of the box in moments.

It has a range of sensors that capture granular, real-time metrics including crop-level dewpoint, temperature humidity, pointed temperature and soil moisture for a variety of substrates.

* Visitors heading for the Harper Adams stand will get a fascinating insight into the ground-breaking Hands Free Hectare (HFHa), run by Harper Adams University and Precision Decisions. This project successfully planted, tended and harvested a crop using only autonomous vehicles and drones, a global first.

FACT FILE:

* More than 160 leading suppliers of the latest technology, products, machines and services are on hand to discuss latest developments.

* There will be knowledge hubs covering black-grass, biostimulants, data and analytics and oilseed rape quality and weed management are all covered in a series of short, sharp presentations that deliver key take-away messages.

* A sprayer demonstration area will give visitors the opportunity to test drive the latest sprayers in the market from leading manufacturers.

* The Farm Innovation Zone will give visitors the opportunity to quiz a number of agritech innovators

* BASIS and NRoSO points (six apiece) per day are on offer.