Beyond Variable Rate Fertiliser: The Additional Advantages of Fritzmeier ISARIA Crop Sensors on Your Farm
- Bernhard Limbrunner
- Mar 24
- 6 min read
Bernhard Limbrunner talks to us at FieldCraft Technologies about the Frizmeier ISARIA system and how the technology can be used to maximise the use of fertiliser inputs as well as other great uses of the technology, rapidly increasing the return on your investment.
The Fritzmeier Environmental Technology division has been developing innovative solutions for people and the environment since 2012, but the Fritzmeier company has a rich heritage going all the way back to 1926.
As a partner of modern agriculture, practical and future-oriented products for agriculture are being developed under the ISARIA Digital Farming brand. Sophisticated technologies, an introduction to smart farming and real-time insight into the agricultural environment go hand in hand. That's why we listen carefully to farmers what they need — and what they don't! — and are constantly researching.
Highly qualified employees, strong links with research and tireless new and further developments of our products and services are the secret of our success. Ideal solutions are created for people and the environment, with ecological and economic benefits always being in the foreground. As a trustworthy partner, ISARIA stands for quality and know-how. We support farmers on their way to a secure future.
Smart Farming, a collective approach
Smart farming is already an integral part of modern agriculture and has the potential to promote more productive and sustainable agriculture through a precise and resource-efficient approach using data-based management.
Plant sensors provide reliable, up-to-date data on the development status of plants. The nitrogen uptake and thus the vitality of the stock is measured and provides clear information, e.g. on the difference in ripening and yield at the stage of ear development. This makes it possible to react quickly when planning plant protection.
Collected alongside soil maps, yield maps and potential zones, the data as a whole can really help with decisions being made.
Where the Fritzmeie ISARIA fits in?
The Fritzmeier ISARIA was designed to help farmers and their businesses utilise expensive fertiliser inputs, as well as help the environment by reducing over-fertilisation.
The issue with having a sensor which only does one job is that for most of the year, it isn't providing any use to the farm.
The Fritmeier ISARIA is different. With the team in Germany working hard with colleagues and universities, there are many other great things that can be done to help farmers see their investments go further.
Growth regulators - The right amount makes the difference
Growth regulators influence the growth of the stem and thus the stability of the plant. Their use has a positive effect on yield and quality. However, an incorrect dosage of growth regulators can have a devastating effect on crop results and on the environment. Careful use of growth regulators is therefore absolutely necessary to avoid negative effects.
Optimum distribution using plant sensors
With the help of plant sensors like the Fritzmeier ISARIA, growth regulators can be applied extremely precisely and variably.
Plant sensors help farmers make decisions: To what extent should growth regulators strengthen vigorous crops in order to avoid damage?
How far can you reduce the amount of expenditure when crops are weak to ensure natural yield development and save expensive application materials?
At the same time, politics and society are calling for a drastic reduction in the use of plant protection products. The site-specific use of growth regulators meets these requirements and increases production reliability.
On the one hand, storage damage and therefore drying costs are minimized. On the other hand, important yield and quality goals can be met.
The sensor-based growth regulator application even results in a proven Income advantage. Residues, especially at weak locations, are minimized by reducing costs.
Fertiliser Restrictions and Legislation
Legislation regulates the use of fertilisers, which means that additional fertiliser losses lead to a drop in yield and quality.
Intelligent distribution and utilization of the remaining permitted amount of fertiliser — whether mineral or organic — is becoming increasingly important in agriculture.
High yields and the qualities required by the market can only be achieved with demand-oriented fertilization. Plant sensors represent a key concept for this in modern agriculture.
While driving across the field, they measure the nitrogen content of the plants by reflecting light, calculate optimal application values and pass them on to the attachment. In this way, each plant is individually supplied with exactly the amount of fertilizer that it can absorb and convert into yield. The amount of fertiliser available is used optimally. The Fritzmeie ISARIA has the added benefit of being able to take in yield potential maps and satellite imagery to increase the accuracy of fertiliser use.
The choice is yours...even the crop-up? Or target and push higher-yielding zones and maintain lower-yielding zones.
Site-specific exact fertilization is a necessary step to meet the requirements of sustainable agriculture. It improves resource efficiency, minimizes over-fertilization and helps farmers still achieve high yields with the required qualities. The loss of excess application agents is thus significantly minimized.
Grassland Re-seeding
Reseeding grassland is a crucial practice for farmers to enhance the quality of their primary feed and boost operational efficiency. This process leads to a thicker sward, which in-turn reduces the soil contamination in forage and increases the protein content of the feed.
Contamination of feed and the soil content is minimized because dense sward allows for shallower work during feed recovery. Consequently, much less soil and dust are mixed into the mowed material. Despite this, swath losses are kept minimal when the sward is thick.
The mowed material should only be placed on the grass stubble and should not come into contact with the ground. This minimizes feed contamination even before further work steps, which significantly reduces mis fermentation in the silo and increases the palatability of the feed for dairy cattle.
The protein content is increased by specifically establishing protein-producing plant species. As a result, the net energy content of staple feed rises sharply. In addition, overseeding makes it possible to adapt to changing environmental conditions - particularly in dry years - which increases the yield security of grassland.
Saving seeds thanks to plant sensors
Through precise, site-specific grassland reseeding, the two core objectives of grassland reseeding can be achieved safely and much more efficiently.
Seed consumption and thus costs per hectare are significantly reduced - with better results.
Plant sensors measure biomass growth and identify gaps. Here, it makes sense to plant more seeds in order to improve the energy efficiency of basic feed.
If the sward is thick anyway, there is no need for grassland reseeding. These conditions often change within a few meters.
Consistently dense sward is important because it prevents weeds from growing and the natural competitive pressure of crops on weeds is high.
The sensors detect areas of dense sward and adjust the application of seeds accordingly. As a result, expensive seeds are only used where they can actually be established.
Farmers can successfully implement protein-rich plants to energetically upgrade their staple feed.
Ultimately, the energy upgrade of staple feed through sensor-based grassland reseeding leads to cost savings for livestock farms, as less concentrated feed has to be purchased. In particular, site-specific grassland reseeding is a sustainable practice that improves feed quality, ensures yields and at the same time reduces operating costs.
Keeping an eye on things
Every pass of the sprayer presents an opportunity to gather insights about how each field is growing and progressing. Satellite data can also provide this feature, at a cost per hectare per year. Once an ISARIA is bought, the data it collects is already paid for and the more you use, the cheaper that figure becomes.
Having sensors in the field also eliminates the risk of cloud covering or shadow effects seen by satellites.
Data synced back to ISARIA CONNECT means an up-to-date crop health image is not far away. Action the data with variable rate fertiliser plans or tailor crop walking to target potential issues.
Utilising smart farming data
Field management applications, such as ISARIA CONNECT, support harvest logistics, particularly in the area of speciality crops.
A plant sensor provides reliable data throughout the year and can be followed every time you travel across the field. This data can be used to document and reward inventory development. For example, farmers can understand a shift in yield zones during crop management and take appropriate measures based on these findings.
ISARIA CONNECT is used to store and visualize the collected sensor data on a case-by-case basis and offers a highly precise view of the plant population.
Farmers also have the option of accessing data such as temperature and rainfall from previous years and retrieving satellite images. The application provides farmers with a great deal of impact-related data. As a result, he is able to draw comparisons between the yield and success of crop protection treatments and the easier it is to make decisions when managing crops in the future. He also has the option of creating individual application maps based on the available data, on the basis of which even more precise site-specific management is possible.
Export and import data from a wide range of resources.
With intelligent smart farming solutions, farmers can maximize the yields of their agricultural land and operate more efficiently.
Want to find out more about Fritzmeier ISARIA?
