Project will look at how sensor technologies can help farmers

Scotland’s farmers need to keep on top of new technologies that allow them to meet the challenge of becoming more productive and profitable, whilst at the same time preserving and enhancing Scotland’s natural capital.

And with the intention of helping this happen, three focus businesses have been chosen to be part of a new “Digital Farm” project which will look at how low-cost sensor technologies can be used across different farm types.

The one-year project will look at capturing data to aid better business decision-making and help with health and safety issues and management of the natural environment. Funded jointly by the Scottish Government and the EU, the work will be led by SAOS and delivered in partnership with Smartrural, Scottish Natural Heritage and RSABI

SOAS’S Jim Booth,said that farmers were facing a future in which agricultural subsidies were likely to decrease whilst being more closely focused on rewarding practices that protected and enhanced the natural environment.

“Parallel to this is a growing interest, at a consumer level, in knowing that the food they consume is of high quality, known provenance and has been produced in a manner that is respectful of the environment,” said Booth.

Smartrural has installed LORAWAN networks on the three Scottish family farms and a bespoke package of sensors will be installed on each farm to capture a range of data that will be used as the basis for improved decision making across the enterprise as well as providing insights into better management of natural capital.