A PIONEERING farm technology start-up business has thanked the Royal Agricultural University (RAU) for giving it the space to grow.

AgriSpectral (AS) has moved into the university’s new high-tech Farm491 hub at Trent Lodge, which provides agritech start-ups, individuals, farmers, scientists and innovators who may be looking for a space, technical support and access to technology to test an innovation.

AS provides farmers with more accurate drone surveying technology, aiming to support farmers in reducing costs and effort whilst increasing yields.

Drone technology has been adopted by many farmers to assist with chemical and fertiliser application decisions, since the improvements in cameras and mapping systems have made these types of machines well suited to agricultural life.

Drones help to solve a persistent farming problem – how to get a thorough look at a field almost plant-by-plant.

Satellites have previously been used to provide images, but these can sometimes lack detail and may not be available at all when there’s thick cloud cover.

GPS-guided aerial vehicles however offer the flexibility of attaching multiple sensors – visible light, infrared or thermal – to determine different features of a crop. 

Most surveying services can usually take 4-5 snapshots along the electromagnetic spectrum.

This provides some information on the crop, but is often limited to identifying where there is a problem which then must be investigated on the ground.

AS investigates multispectral, hyperspectral and thermal imaging, analysing hundreds of snapshots at a higher resolution to get a much more detailed picture of crop health.

This will allow farmers to improve yields whilst reducing inputs.

Guy Picton-Phillips, AS founder, said: “It is a really exciting time for the agricultural sector as we see more and more technology being integrated into farming life.

“Farmers are willing to adopt and adapt new technology if it is proven to work.

“A successful farmer will know his business inside out and will appreciate the need for the best information to make more measured business decisions.

“The saying: if you don’t measure, you can’t manage, could not be more true.

“As a start-up business, I was extremely fortunate to hear about the Farm491 development at RAU.

“This innovative enterprise hub is helping entrepreneurs like me to really get an idea off the ground.

The level of support, through its service providers, the university’s academics, access to technical support and network of agricultural associates, has really helped me to establish AgriSpectral and I look forward to growing my business with Farm491.”

The Farm491 hub, based on the RAU campus, is set to officially open this month but office space is already available.