Agxio is working with Farming Connect to demonstrate the potential of sensor technology applications on a number of demonstration farms across Wales. As part of the collaboration, Agxio are deploying Mercury, an advanced sensor network analytics platform, to interpret data from intelligent sensors placed on the farms. The project aims to capture valuable data using in-situ Lorawan (Low Power Long Range Wide Area Access Network) sensors to enable real-time monitoring of environmental conditions and provide meaningful insights to farmers.
The demonstration farm network covers a diverse range of farm types including dairy, beef, sheep and poultry. Applications of sensor technology include monitoring key parameters such as soil health, enabling the farmer to make informed and effective decisions to improve grassland management, boost resilience and increase yield. Additionally, animal health can be maximised by deploying smart sensors in livestock buildings to analyse environmental conditions in real-time, reducing disease risk and improving animal welfare.
Dewi Hughes, Technical Development Manager at Farming Connect commented, “We have been working closely with the team at Agxio and our network of 18 Farming Connect Demonstration farms across Wales to trial the use of sensor technology. Integrating sensor technology and adding value to the information through Artificial Intelligence supports farmers to embrace the opportunities of precision agriculture. Farmers can use the information to improve productivity, reduce carbon footprint and provide real-time data on various operations on the farm to support decision making, or even make decisions automated.
Examples of these include, managing the environments within sheds (temperature, humidity) and slurry management. We are also working to trial the use of an automated drone to measure grass yield across a farm. This technology can be extremely valuable in saving time and effort in collecting data for reporting.”
Dr Stephen Christie, CEO at Agxio, added, “With the increasing incorporation of technology and modernisation of traditional farming, this project has infinite potential to promote precision agriculture. By utilising sensor technology and novel machine learning through our sensor analytics platform Mercury, we have been working closely with the Farming Connect team to add value to data and provide innovative solutions to farmers.”