Farming solutions pioneers announce new partnership with world class producer

Angus based precision farming solutions pioneers SoilEssentials have announced a new partnership with Elveden, a world-class producer and purveyor of local and regional food excellence.

SoilEssentials and Elveden are proud to be working together using Tuberzone and Tuberzone CropCast to better manage potato crops for optimum size distribution and crop value, so reducing food waste. The Tuberzone suite of applications use data and not physical inputs to improve potato crops, and so are an environmental win-win.

SoilEssentials developed these products over five years with the help of The James Hutton Institute and through an InnovateUK project, Tuberzone. The model has now run from China to the USA, from Scotland to New Zealand very successfully.

Elveden is a 22,500-acre country estate, of which over 10,000 acres is farmland - the largest ring-fenced arable farm in lowland Britain. The Estate is part of the larger farming portfolio including three other sites farmed under separate farming agreements, bring the farmed area to over 19,000 acres. The land is all managed with a keen eye on environmental and sustainable targets, working in harmony with their farming practices.

The land at Elveden was transformed for agricultural use in 1927 by Rupert Guinness, the great great grandson of Arthur Guinness (founder of the Guinness brewery.) The field layout he implemented is still virtually identical today, with large fields of up to 100 acres in size that are well-suited to today’s powerful machinery, paying testament to his forward-thinking attitude. Elveden are passionate about environmentally responsible farming and work hard to ensure that biodiversity thrives alongside their farming practices.

The farm specialises in the production of vegetables, especially potatoes, onions, carrots, and parsnips., and round 6% of the UK’s onions are grown at Elveden. Cereals such as rye, barley and wheat are also grown to balance the rotation, ensuring their soils remain fertile and productive for generations to come.

SoilEssentials exist where precision agronomy, software development and engineering collide and where technology and good farming practice merge. Always ready to challenge themselves, SoilEssentials, as agricultural innovators, thrive on the emergence of new technologies, developments and collaborative opportunities to further enhance and push the boundaries in precision farming to bring exciting solutions to the marketplace.

Ed Walsh from SoilEssentials had the following to say about the partnership:

‘SoilEssentials’ Tuberzone and Tuberzone CropCast will allow Elveden to predict potato crop yields, size distribution and crop value weekly through the season, optimise the potato crop output, while reducing food waste.’

Andrew Francis, Farms Director from Elveden added:

‘We have a never-ending quest for knowledge improvement which is key to our business goals of not being satisfied with how we produce food today. We must embed best practice in everything we do, but we must also use knowledge, technology and innovation to look forward to doing a better job tomorrow. Partnerships with companies such as SoilEssentials and organisations like the Agri-EPI Centre are key to helping us learn more and learn faster.’

SoilEssentials and Elveden continue to work together, along with Agri-EPI Centre on other projects to improve sustainable production through multiple sources including hardware products, drone flying and the SoilEssentials’ KORE online precision farming platform.