SATELLITE agriculture company Vultus is offering free variable-rate nitrogen prescriptions to cereal crop farmers across Britain, claiming that the technology can cut a third from their fertiliser costs.

“With Brexit approaching, it’s uncertain how fertiliser prices will be affected at the farmgate,” said chief executive Robert Schmitt. “We’re hoping to help British farmers steer ahead of this issue. Our technology not only reduces fertiliser costs by 33%, it helps farmers to reduce CO2 emissions by 149kg/hectare.”

Mr Schmitt noted that global studies had found that over half of nitrogen fertilisers simply go to waste. Whilst growers know that there can be dramatic variations in intra-field fertiliser requirements, allowing for this in practice is difficult.

But using advanced satellite remote sensing technology, growers can pinpoint crops’ exact fertiliser needs and download those recommendations straight to ISOBUS enabled tractors. Crops that could benefit from this system include wheat, barley, rapeseed, maize, millet, rye, bran, sorghum, and potatoes.

Norrsken, Almi Invest Greentech and Rockstart’s Agtech Fund have together invested €1 million in the system, alongside Vultus's own €1m in funding.

Tove Larsson, investment manager at Norrsken, said: “This is our eighteenth investment and another fantastic example of how modern technology can make the world better, but it needs new solutions to meet the challenges."