Remote monitoring by growers doubles

THE number of UK growers using remote weather monitoring via a smartphone has more than doubled over the past year, according to developer Sencrop.

The company has upgraded its mobile application, integrating popular weather forecasting models from 22 countries.

A customer survey conducted in November revealed that users consulted and compared weather forecasts from different forecasting models every day. Sencrop's product teams then selected the most relevant models, according to three criteria – geographical coverage, short- or long-term forecast, and popularity – to develop the new feature, which was added to the Sencrop app at the end of February.

Farmers can access, within the application, the forecasting models used by major UK weather data sites like Metcheck, BBC and Meteoblue, and use the most appropriate one according to their needs and preferences. 

In total, 10 models have been integrated within Sencrop’s 22 active countries, including six for the UK and Ireland.

Sencrop says one model will be more relevant than another, depending on the use case. A cereal producer may focus on short-term forecasts linked to wind, before applying nitrogen or crop protection treatments, while a potato producer will need longer-term rain forecasts to anticipate the risk of mildew. Similarly, wine growers will pay particular attention to short-term forecasts to plan for frosts in winter and thunderstorms in summer. 

Various models meeting these needs are now available on the Sencrop application.

"Since our goal is to help farmers make better decisions based on weather data, and we listen a lot to what they have to tell us, we are continuously improving the Sencrop app,” says Michael Bruniaux, Sencrop co-founder. 

“This further development in our forecast dashboard, which allows a farmer to pick the most suitable forecast model in their dashboard, felt like evidence to us. We realised this feature would be even more valuable if they could customise the weather forecast to the one that would most suit their needs."