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Spring Webinar Series Week 2 – A Deep Dive Into Agricultural Sensors

Welcome to Week 2 of our Spring Webinar Series!

Last week served as an Introduction to EarthScout, the history of the company, and the products we offer farmers and growers.

This week we take a deep dive into the sensors available with EarthScout.

We began the broadcast with some brief housekeeping items, talking about our YouTube channel, where you can find the recordings of these webinars as well as a plethora of other educational videos and resources we have made available. Then we announced our Spring Sale, which is $1000 off EarthScout products when you use the promo code “Spring” on our e-commerce pages. You can save up to a total of $3000 with this promo code.

Then we dive right into sensors, which highlights information on the data points that we provide growers through our precision, IoT farm technology!

It’s agronomic, it’s technical, it’s great served with your morning coffee.

Our products and technology are being newly adopted by farmers, so it is important to be educated on the benefits each of these sensors provide. I will briefly summarize some agronomic insights into the available sensors covered on this webinar. Please watch the video at the end of this blog or on YouTube to learn more!

Air Temperature and Humidity Sensor

The air temperature and humidity sensor is a 2-in-1 sensor that comes standard on all EarthScout units, which means you have this sensor plus the option to have up to 4 other sensors on each unit you purchase.

The air temperature data can be used to measure site-specific GDUs. Also, temperatures may read slightly higher than your local weather station because there is no solar shield on the sensor. This is a more precise agronomic reading because it is telling you what the plant is experiencing while factoring in whatever solar radiation may be present.

The humidity data is useful for monitoring disease pressures, as fungal diseases prefer wet, damp, humid environments to proliferate. Humidity is also important when you are thinking about plant respiration.

TDR Soil Sensor

The TDR Soil Sensor is a 3-in-1 sensor: soil moisture, soil temperature, and soil electroconductivity (EC). It is our most popular sensor!

Soil moisture data is extremely useful to growers, as soil moisture can be a limiting factor on plant health and yields. You can manage your irrigation more efficiently using this data. Set alerts and receive notifications when you have reached critical soil moisture levels with EarthScout!

Soil temperature data is great for making spring planting decisions. Give your seeds the best chance at germinating with real time data.

Soil EC data is useful in a heavily manured farm and for growers who are applying fertigation. You want to be sure that your soils are receiving the right amount of your inputs to benefit your crop, without overdoing it and risking damage to roots.

Solar Radiation Sensor

Solar Radiation data provides insights into potential plant stress, as well as the ability to time irrigation based on proper conditions to apply water.

PAR Light Sensor

PAR or Quantum Solar data is photosynthetic active radiation information. This is beneficial for indoor growers to monitor and control the amount of light their specialty crops are getting and making sure to apply a shade to address possible issues.

Leaf Wetness Sensor

Leaf wetness data provides insights to moisture conditions anywhere in the plant or tree you are monitoring. We have used this sensor in vineyard and orchard settings to monitor disease and pest conditions.

Leaf/Bud Temperature Sensor

Leaf/Bud temperature data is useful for deciding when to prune fruit trees, as well as monitoring potential frost conditions that may provide enough notice for interventions to be implemented and prevent damage.

Soil Matric Potential Sensor

Soil matric potential data tells growers how much of the soil moisture is available for the plant to use. This is more for specific research purposes and much different data than the TDR soil sensor. In most cases, the TDR sensor is more useful to the average grower.

Oxygen Sensor

Soil oxygen data is used to help determine if there is proper oxygen in the soil for healthy plant growth. Sometimes moisture data isn’t enough. Different soils have different pore spaces, which means you may need to adjust moisture levels accordingly.

CO2 Sensor

CO2 data is used for indoor growing to monitor your ventilation system.

All our sensors are plug and play: no calibration needed! They are highly accurate and precise. Please treat with care.

Then after the dive into each individual sensor, we covered what is currently being offered in our base models, how the system works, and what kinds of charts you may find on the EarthScout App.

Each Webinar in this series ends in a brief Q&A Session. In this section we discuss some pricing questions, spoke more about our TDR Soil Sensor and Soil Matric Potential sensor, and the new TDR Soil Sensor that is currently being tested by our development team that will be useful for growers in nursery environments as well as hydroponic growers who are using rock wool and other soilless mediums.

Thank you again to everyone who attended this morning. We are really enjoying your participation and questions.

We have 4 weeks left of this series. The remaining schedule is as follows:

  • Week 3 (April 1st) – Understanding Soil Moisture and Soil Moisture Management – why does soil moisture matter? How can you use EarthScout soil sensors to monitor and make management decisions on your farm?
  • Week 4 (April 8th) – Mid-Season and End of Season Reports. What are these reports and how can they help you?
  • Week 5 (April 15th) – EarthScout Irrigation Case Studies. How our irrigation studies have helped growers see significant savings on irrigation costs.
  • Week 6 (April 22nd) – Crazy About Cover Crops. We will discuss soil health and the benefits of sustainable farming practices and case studies we have around this topic.

We hope to see you for the remainder of our series. If you would like to register, you can do so by clicking this link.

If you watch a replay and have any additional questions about our products and services, please reach out to us via phone at 877-443-7632 or through our website and speak with us about your needs.

As much as we would love to have everyone attend in person to ask questions and engage with us, we know times are busier than ever. Each Friday afternoon, we will be posting the recordings on our YouTube channel, blog, and social media platforms for you to watch at your leisure.

Thank you so much to everyone who attended, and we can’t wait to see everyone again next week as we discuss soil moisture management!