Soil monitoring AgTech comparisons
Crop and pasture productivity determines the success of your cropping, livestock, and mixed production systems.
Using AgTech products to better understand soil parameters can help with dryland and irrigated farming decisions.
Benefits
The data provided through soil monitoring can inform:
- potential sowing dates based on soil moisture
- essential timings for irrigation
- application of fertilisers and chemicals throughout the growing season.
These technologies deliver information through a central dashboard display that can be accessed via computer or mobile device.
Soil moisture
Soil moisture
Controlling your soil moisture levels will lead to higher potential yields and profit margins. It reduces the risk of over irrigating, which could leach nutrients and chemicals into groundwater.
Rainfall events
Probes determine the water holding capacity of soil by tracing the movement of the water profile during and after rainfall.
This information can determine the structure of your irrigation and sowing schedule.
Soil temperature
Soil temperature
Temperature affects a plant’s ability to absorb water and nutrients, impacting its growth. Monitoring soil temperature can:
- determine an optimum period for sowing
- maximise crop germination rate and establishment.
Soil salinity
Soil salinity
Salinity is a harsh environmental factor affecting crop health, which can lead to soil erosion. AgTech soil probes can measure salinity levels to avoid:
- nutrient deficiencies and osmotic stress
- negative impacts on germination, biomass and yields.
Probing the depth of soil salinity shows whether irrigation is needed to push salt past the rootzone, or if the salt is on the surface.
These technologies can influence irrigation management and help with selecting salt tolerant crop and pasture varieties.
Choosing soil monitoring AgTech
Soil probes are supplied in a variety of lengths to service different production systems. Discuss your requirements with the supplier to find a soil probe that reaches suitable depth.
Consider the technological capabilities of a soil monitoring device and whether it is appropriate for your location. These AgTech products can often be self-installed or installed by a supplier.
Connectivity
A 3G connection is usually adequate, as monitoring devices only transmit small volumes of data.
In areas with no mobile connectivity, satellite, LoRaWAN and Cat-M1 connected devices can be used.
Power
Most monitoring technologies are solar or battery powered, but some operate via mains power.
Check the type of battery used by the device and monitor battery life throughout its use. Make sure the solar panel on your device is kept clean as this may affect its ability to charge.
The battery must be in an easily accessible location to be replaced.
Fees and charges
There is often an upfront cost for hardware and ongoing subscription fees. The subscription costs are for data collection and communication alerts, such as text messages and emails.
AgTech decision matrix
Compare available technologies with the Soil monitoring AgTech decision matrix ().
