Software may enable farmers to unlock full potential of land

The development could also have significant environmental and cost saving benefits for the industry
The development could also have significant environmental and cost saving benefits for the industry

Software may now enable British farmers and growers to unlock the full potential of their land by applying the exact nutrients it needs.

For the first time, the latest research from the AHDB’s Nutrient Management Guide has been converted to data for software.

This means a bespoke plan can now be created for each field, potentially increasing yield from a large number of arable, potato and horticultural crops.

This helps farmers and growers to decide whether to save or apply fertiliser, manures or slurry to maximise growth.

The development could also have significant environmental and cost saving benefits for the industry.

“As the population continues to grow, the need to increase the productivity of our land while protecting the environment becomes ever greater,” said James Holmes, Resource Management Senior Scientist at AHDB.

“This tool will help support our farmers and growers to do that.”

Growers and agronomists can now access the digital guidance to help improve their land field-by-field and get the most from their crops.

The development has been possible following a partnership between AHDB and Farmplan, now using the data in its Gatekeeper software, to help farmers manage cropping activities.

Farmplan's software is currently used by more than 5,000 farmers, growers and agronomists.

Sarah Alexander, Arable Commercial Product Manager at Farmplan, said: “Having access to the data from Nutrient Management Guide not only gives our customers peace of mind by satisfying compliance needs, but also the opportunity to make their land more productive.”

The Nutrient Management Guide Application Programme Interface is available for other providers to use, however Gatekeeper is currently the only software provider using the data.