Growers are facing very uncertain times as the climate is changing and weather patterns become harder to predict while at the same time production costs are increasing. This is when digital agronomy solutions become almost a necessity rather than a luxury.
"WayBeyond makes agronomy data accessible, timely, and actionable at scale – from the farm to the management table. Our flagship crop management software, FarmRoad, provides protected cropping growers with a clearer picture of their growing environments, plant health, and pest and disease outbreaks, enabling them to respond to daily farm challenges with certainty and improve growing practices. FarmRoad delivers proven crop outcomes and empowers them to utilize resources and inputs at the right place, at the right time. Ultimately improving their farm's operational efficiency and profitability," explains Phil Roberts, Marketing Manager at the company.
"Optimal crop management starts with digitized data capture. Our wireless sensor network automatically collects temperature, relative humidity, CO2, PAR, RAD, EC and barometric pressure readings, plant temperature, soil moisture, etc. Growers enter crop registration and scouting observations directly into FarmRoad. With FarmRoad, growers access and visualize key agronomy data trends and insights across all their sites, remotely. They also receive real-time alerts for adverse conditions – such as risk of frost or botrytis – via email, SMS or WhatsApp. Our activity feed delivers real-time updates, including recent scouting and registration input, alerts, and climate notifications to keep everyone informed."
Way Beyond published The African Blue case study which is a great example of how growers can avoid crop loss with real-time climate and plant health visibility: www.waybeyond.io/resources/african-blue
FarmRoad's AI-powered agronomy insights assist growers in optimizing their crops towards desired outcomes. We're launching our climate analysis at Fruit Logistica. This feature automatically analyzes the climate conditions across farms and provides insights into variety-optimal conditions. Growers can see at a glance how much time is spent at optimal, below optimal, and extreme levels, helping them prioritize areas for focus. We also offer advanced crop-specific features to help growers maximize their yield. Our plant balance indicator displays a plant's vegetative or generative status. Our short-term tomato yield prediction forecasts up to four weeks ahead, using eight weeks of crop data."
Due to the extreme weather conditions seen in Europe and further afield in recent years Way Beyond have seen an increase in interest for their systems.
"We recently attended the Morocco Berry Conference, and digital agronomy solutions were one of the hottest topics amongst growers. They are both facing unprecedented cost increases and pest and disease outbreaks or evolving climates that impact yield volume and quality. Many are investing in digital agronomy solutions and crop management software to become more proactive. By digitizing data capture, growers can save from 1 hour in labor per farm and per day. With real-time agronomy insights, they can also improve their growing practices and decide when and where to use their labor most effectively. Adopting modern crop management practices contributes to improving their working conditions and educating/upskilling their workforce, which can result in improved staff retention and healthier communities.
WayBeyond has customers in 18 countries, most of them being in Morocco and Mexico.
"Our customers range from seed producers like Bayer Crop Science and HM Clause, to enterprise growers like Azura, Perfection Fresh, Costa, African Blue, or Belher. We have a strong partnership with Ceickor University in Mexico, where we piloted our industry-first digital agronomy curriculum tailored specifically for protected cropping growers last year. This curriculum is now an integral part of Ceickor's Protected Agriculture Engineering degree."
Phil said their focus is on countries with large protected cropping farms.
WayBeyond can be found at Fruit Logistica in Hall 3.1, Stand C-30.
For more information:
Lotte Bayly
WayBeyond
Tel +64 21 222 8779
Lotte.bayly@waybeyond.io