b'TURF AND FORAGEAn Eye in the Sky Helps a Busy Breeder on the FlyKLAUS K. NIELSENChief Scientific Officer DLFSEED APPLIED TECHNOLOGIES As I walk through our turf trials, Ia substitute for what is simple, intuitive,3. Commercial platforms are already sense the quiet humming of a smalland documented to work well? I wouldoffering farm solutions, where customers Getting Ready for the Future Unmanned Aerial Vehicle or UAV har- say there are three major reasons whyupload drone images and get agronomic boring a camera and a multispectralDLF has decided to use drone imagingdata back. Once these platforms can SYLVAIN BEDEL European Program Leader for Insecticide, Nematicides, Biologicals and SATsCorteva camera which records images in fouras part of forage- and turf evaluation: handle massive plot numbers, drone-based narrow light spectra; green, red, red1. For certain traits, such as diseasescoring may even be faster than visual edge, and near infrared. Each of thesescoring, precision is higher. Firstly, theinspection. A 20.000 plots 1x1 m trial field spectral images contains informationresolution in vegetation data from imagesequals that the plant breeder has to do a about vegetative growth. Combined intois higher than 1-9. Secondly, image anal- half-marathon just to take just one score.a vegetation index, they can provideysis is not biased, which may be the caseWill breeders become superfluous? breeders with detailed information onfor breeders after having scored someNot likely. With his eye the breeder also traits such as crop cover, density, dis- thousand plots. carries that intelligence, which for exam-ease, and establishment.2. Drones will allow to increase andple can perceive the difference between These traits are normally scored onrepeat the number of scores, and thetrue winter damage and low coverage a 1-9 scale by visual inspection, and sta- drone imaging enables breeders to filecaused by bad establishment the previ-tistical records prove they are really goodimportant observations at time pointsous year. In such case the breeder would at it both in terms of accuracy and pre- where they are busy with other tasks.assign the correct score and drone cision. They are also fast: A turf trial ofSuch information would otherwise haveimages not. So, next time I walk through several thousand plots is usually scoredbeen lost or limited to one or two obser- our turf trials I expect to hear humming in less than a few hours. So, one may val- vations. Now the images can be analyzedagain mixed with whistling from a happy idly ask: Why using drone imaging thatduring winter, when field work is typicallybreeder who can have even more data and usually takes a lot of post-processing asreduced. high precision with no extra work.CORN, SORGHUM AND OILSEEDSPredicting Farmers NeedsCYPRIEN GOUPILProject Manager, Business DevelopmentEuralisClicknSeed is our companys latest tool,consider a multitude of constraints henceThe tool is also given the opportunity to which consolidates our digital offer tothe interest in helping him with the diag- quickly vary its practices to adapt to a CONTENT MARKETING farmers to support them in the fieldsnosis. better identified situation, adds Cyprien of plant production by reconciling per- Thats why we came up with theGoupil, digital project manager.What the Flu Shot has in Common with Business formance and respect the environment.idea of starting the diagnosis with anisThe second big benefit for the farmer Behind this apparent simplicity lies aassessment of the farmers situation. Wethe gain in productivity. Because a MARC ZIENKIEWICZ EditorCreate by Issues Ink unique and powerful algorithm developedare the only ones on the market to dofarmer has only one test per year, cus-by Euralis Semences. While most of thethat, says Cline Cauhape, Euralis Corntomization of the answer provided by applications available on the market offerMarket Development Manager. ClicknSeed allows to maximize the filtering based on the operators data, theThanks to the tool, the diagnosispotential of each plot with its constraints. ClicknSeed search engine crosses theof the plot and the varietal recommen- In addition, personalized density advice information provided by the farmer withdation are made from a real situationhelps to limit waste by determining the complex internal and external statisticaland not from the farmers vision. Oftenright amount of seeds to be sown. In this data. It only takes a few clicks to accessa farmer will remember the last two orway, the farmer can visualize the trial a complete diagnosis and a tailor-madethree harvests but not much more, con- results in his region. The combination varietal recommendation. tinues Cauhape. With our new tool, theof the two recommendations represents The tool is designed for corn graindiagnosis is based on a 15-year historyreal economic and financial security for and corn silage, sunflower and it allowsof weather and a varietal database thatthe farmer.to advise the operator quickly and easilyhas been in existence for more than 10The provision of the tool to farm-on the plant variety that is best suited toyears. This allows the farmer to identifyers is planned for 2020 in France and its needs and its environment and thus,and assess the risk of any stress or dis- several other countries in Europe. The improve the productivity of his plot. ease pressure that may occur on the plot. tool will be deployed for the three spe-Farmers enjoy several advantagesThe recommendation is likely to upsetcies in France, Ukraine, Russia, Romania thanks to this scientific tool. Amongthe habits of the farmer: The value of theand for corn grain and corn silage only the immediate benefits are a thoroughtool is to make a recommendation from ain Germany. The exact launch date will and rapid analysis of the agro-climaticspecific situation that the operator himselfvary depending on the country campaign situation of the farmer. A farmer musthas trouble identifying and characterizing.calendar.EUROPEAN-SEED.COMIEUROPEAN SEED I 23'