Save money this spring by measuring your soil temperature

The weather influences all of your decisions like nothing else and accurate weather data allows you to base your everyday actions on facts instead of gut feelings. Using Cordulus Farm to receive local weather measurements and accurate forecasts may save you time and money in the coming season.

Grassland management is quite a fine art where precision farming technologies such as hyperlocal weather data are proving very beneficial. Getting your timing right in spring by knowing the exact soil temperature on your field will get you a solid seasonal start and will help make everything else flow more comfortably for the rest of the season. 

Getting a head start on the grazing period with soil temperature

The T-Sum 200 is a key parameter for getting grass growing in the spring as it is an indicator for when the time is right for putting your first nitrogen fertiliser in the soil. It’s the cumulative result of the mean daily air temperatures recorded and when this total reaches 200, your grass will respond most efficiently to nitrogen. The challenge is then, that there’s a massive difference in soil temperatures across Great Britain. 

From Cornwall to Scotland, local conditions vary widely depending on soil type, latitude, topography and a number of other influencing factors, and having your very own soil temperature readings can prove to be very profitable.

Say that you can turnout your cows just one week earlier in the season by fertilising sooner and more accurately. Each cow brings you around £2 savings. For a herd of 200 cows, that’s a £2.800 increase in profit. That’s not bad for a £350-a-year weather service.

“I see Cordulus as a useful addition on a dairy livestock farm because the relatively small investment allows you to get much better information throughout the season.

Having all of the historical information by your hand such as the recorded rainfall for the season is very useful, but the soil temperature in particular is essential for getting that head start in spring.”

• Graham Ragg, Senior Agronomist and Product Manager, Mole Valley Farmers. 

Reduce forecasting uncertainty by 24%

Measuring the weather is one thing – predicting it is quite another. Accurate forecasts are the key to planning day-to-day operations, and Cordulus have developed an unmatched approach to forecasting, where users receive their very own unique forecasts in the app.

It’s called hardware-enhanced weather forecasting, and it’s done by calibrating existing and widely-recognised weather models with the measurements of each individual weather station, resulting in a hyper-locally tailored forecast for each location. The relatively new technology has already proved that it continually outcompetes traditional forecasting methods, eliminating up to 24% of forecasting errors for all Cordulus Farm users.

“Improving the reliability of weather forecasts is essential for our farmers, and Cordulus weather stations are a key decision-making tool.” 

• Lisa Hambly, Head of Grassland and Agronomy, Mole Valley Farmers. 

Cutting-edge technology with local support

Cordulus Farm is quickly proving itself as the go-to weather service for UK farmers. The all-inclusive rental model includes a weather station, a user-friendly app as well as access to the growing network of Cordulus weather stations in the UK. Using live and historical weather data, in-app analyses and unparalleled forecasts, farmers can work proactively with the weather and plan seasonal activities accordingly.

The rental model ensures that farmers are advised and supported throughout, and Julian Brightwell of Soames Engineering is available for client support. Leaving the hassle and worries of hardware durability behind, farmers are ensured rapid response and action if any issues or questions arise. 

Cultivating value for farmers is at the core of Cordulus’ business. Owned and operated by farming investors such as the Danish Agro Group, the hardware and software of Cordulus Farm is specifically designed for farming. Half of the team behind Cordulus is focused on applied meteorology and is consistently working on improving the accuracy and precision of the novel weather forecasts. As we face increasingly extreme and unpredictable weather conditions, this is only becoming more urgent and relevant. 

The potential return for farmers is up to £2 pr. cow pr. day when using the soil temperature to get an early start on the grazing season.