Award-winning SoilEssentials are continuing to expand by proving that unique industry experience counts

America’s space agency, NASA, and Massachussets Institute of Technology(MIT) are among the globally-renowned names involved in revolutionising agriculture but, closer to home, precision farming specialists SoilEssentials have proved that industry experience counts.

Sales director Robert Ramsay believes the award-winning company continues to expand because it is unique in its combination of experiences.

“We are, as far as I know, the only company that can do such high-tech work from such a dirty boots and grounded position,” he said.

“We have the farmers’ work ethics combined with the vision and ambition of a Californian start up – 2019 looks to be an exciting year for us.”

SoilEssentials argues that while an industry can’t revolutionise itself without looking outside, nor can it be transformed entirely from the outside; there needs to be an understanding of the culture and the complex biological systems in which farmers work.

While the team of 30 is a mix of people from inside and outside the agricultural sector, they base all their activity on farms and every member of the team “touches dirt” now and then.

The agronomy team provides soil sampling, area measuring and a drone flying service and the machine control team travel across the country installing, calibrating, problem solving and supporting customers with a range of guidance and steering systems.

There is also a software development and projects team which offers integrated precision solutions for individual farms

The company’s latest innovation, KORE, was launched last year and gives farmers, agronomists and farming companies the opportunity to manage their land more effectively using gathered data from multiple sources, through an ever-expanding suite of apps. It won a commendation from the Royal Highland and Agricultural Society of Scotland (RHASS) for technical innovation.

The wider accessibility and affordability of Earth Observation data gave way to the initial concept for KORE, and partnering with Deimos Space UK and supported by the European Space Agency allowed the vision to become a reality.

At the end of last year SoilEssentials started a series of KORE workshops to introduce local farmers to the service.

The innovation allows users to view satellite imagery and UAV (drone) imagery uploads, crop scouting tools, variable rate mapping, yield maps, and in-field problems to be geo-referenced and recorded.

For crop scouting there are low cost, off-the-shelf drones to take high resolution crop imagery and agronomists, farmers and field staff can fly and upload imagery themselves.

SoilEssentials’ in-house software development team is now evolving this online precision farming toolbox for customers in the UK and internationally.

Anyone interested in joining the next free KORE workshop should contact alison@soilessentials.com

We are, as far as I know, the only company that can do such hightech work from such a dirty boots and grounded position. ROBERT RAMSAY, SALES DIRECTOR

Top and middle: low-cost off-the-shelf drones are now being used to take high resolution crop imagery; bottom: the company prides itself in working from a “dirty boots” and grounded position.