Carrot Review

RAINFALL MONITORING “Having the knowledge of the exact amount of rainfall makes organisation easier. We can do the right job on the right day in the right field.” Rodger Hobson, Grower and BCGA Chairman to a fellow carrot grower, Rodger was alerted to what was at the time a novel new entry to the market – the ‘ultra-local’ Sencrop unit. “He said he’d been one of the rst UK users of the station and it was his good review that made me decide to try one out.” A French agri-tech start-up, Sencrop’s single focus is on farm weather: helping farmers record, understand and make better use of weather data. e premise is simple: Set up a unit on its tripod, in a eld, and connect it to a smartphone. Within minutes, a farmer has an automated read-out showing real-time metrics such as rainfall, humidity, temperature, windspeed and direction, with data updated every 15 minutes and a dashboard that can be shared with others. Data sharing For Rodger Hobson, this ability to ‘crowd- source’ data is of huge bene t, distinguishing the Sencrop from other ‘smart’ farm weather stations. “Because we need quite a lot of land to keep the carrots in rotation, we’ve always got di erent parcels here and there. I’m always interested in other Sencrops in the area, so that I can get rainfall statistics remotely from other parts of the region. “At its most basic, investing in a smart weather station means you don’t have to drive out to each eld location before deciding how to plan your day,” says Harry Atkinson, Sencrop’s UK business development manager. “Growers love the ability to not only see what’s happening on their farm, but also what other Sencrop units in the vicinity are reporting,” explains Harry. at’s because every user can connect to at least two weather stations that they own and operate, but also further weather stations anywhere within the Sencrop network.” “What’s more, I can choose to share that data with the farm team. Initially it was just the managers but now it’s the spray operators too. Having the knowledge of the exact amount of rainfall makes organisation easier. We can do the right job on the right day in the right eld. “What’s also useful is the rain radar within the app. We know if, and when, it’s going to rain within a three-hour window. at’s tremendously helpful in being able to co- ordinate bed-forming with drilling and not be left with bed-formed land that couldn’t be planted before the rain came. “Another great feature is the ability to set an alert through the app. For example, I would say my second most interesting statistic – after the rainfall – is winter temperature. I need to know when it reaches zero degrees, and how many degrees of frost we’ve had in the night, and the app will tell me – so I’m fully aware of how it’s going to a ect harvesting the following day.” Founded in 2016, Sencrop’s o ering – easy- to-use, a ordable stations – has clearly hit home with European farmers: its network has grown to more than 15,000 installations, with more than 700 of those in the UK. As Harry Atkinson says: “Unfortunately we can’t change the weather, but a farmer with a connected weather station can at least change their behaviour to better suit the weather we know is coming.” Harry Atkinson CARROT REVIEW JANUARY 2021 9