“Farmstar” Enriches its Offer With New Recommendations

Summary

• • Plot management now down to 1 hectare, using UAVs, SPOT 6 and SPOT 7 satellites • New interactive advice for nitrogen input at the 1 cm ear stage, at the exit of the winter, for wheat, barley and triticale crops

“Farmstar”, a service of Airbus Defence and Space and ARVALIS – Institut du végétal for precision farming based on satellite information, has been further improved: new images acquired by the SPOT 6/7 satellites will make it possible to issue intra-field recommendations for areas as small as 1 hectare. Automatic and manual modulation files are accessible to all farmers via the “Farmstar” web portal. An additional advice for calculating the nitrogen input at the 1 cm ear stage enables this input to be broken down and adjusted for wheat, barley and triticale crops. The nitrogen fertilisation recommendations now take into account the objectives of the Proteins Plan for wheat quality thanks to new nitrogen requirement specifications for soft wheat, to optimise how this two-fold ‘yield–protein content’ objective is addressed.

These new developments come at the right time: after an extremely difficult year, due to exceptionally poor meteorological conditions, French farmers are now more than ever looking to save on farm inputs while continuing to manage their crops sustainably and with a focus on environmental protection. The number of farmers signed up for the service has constantly risen over the past 15 years. Nearly 800,000 ha of plots were monitored by “Farmstar” last season, enabling more than 18,000 farmers to save time and money through precise management of the exact needs of their crops.

“Farmstar” is a service distributed by the cooperatives, chambers of agriculture and traders dedicated to precision agriculture and crop management developed by Airbus Defence and Space and ARVALIS – Institut du végétal, in partnership with Terres Inovia. Throughout the season, the service provides reliable information that can be directly used by farmers to help them quickly make relevant decisions. This advice, combining satellite, UAV and aircraft imagery with agronomic expertise, exposes the real need of plants within each plot at different key stages in the crop growth and allows the right amount of inputs to be added in the right places at the right time.

About Airbus Defence and Space

Airbus Defence and Space, a division of Airbus Group, is Europe’s number one defence and space enterprise and the second largest space business worldwide. Its activities include space, military aircraft and related systems and services. It employs more than 38,000 people and in 2015 generated revenues of over 13 billion Euros.

About ARVALIS – Institut du végétal

ARVALIS – Institut du vegetal is an applied agricultural research organisation dedicated to arable crops: cereals, maize, sorghum, potatoes, fodder crops, flax and tobacco. It was founded by farmers and dedicates its expertise to the creation of production systems that combine economic competiveness, adjusting to markets and protecting the environment. It considers technological innovation a major tool to enable producers and agri-companies to respond to societal challenges.