From #EUSpace to farm to fork: the journey from space applications, to smart farming, and down to your plate

#EUSpace is closer than you think. By relying on the powerful synergies of Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus, EU farmers can increase crop productivity, optimize resources and reduce their environmental footprint. The food on your plate relies on EUspace services. 

Grassland and cropland together make up 39 % of Europe's land cover. Today’s agricultural landscape is facing the challenge of producing enough food to respond to a rapid world population growth, while reducing its environmental footprint in terms of emissions, soil degradation, utilisation of water, fertilizers and pesticides. 

To tackle these challenges more and more farmers and agriculturists across the European Union resort to precision agriculture. Dutch precision farmer, Jacob Van den Borne took us on a virtual tour of his farm where he explained why space is a true enabler in the sector.

The Van den Borne farm, just off the Belgian-Dutch borders, is one of the most technologically advanced farms in the EU. Jacob Van den Borne firstly ventured into the field of precision farming in 2006 and ever since he has not stopped investing in new technologies enabling him to sustainably cultivate his land. The state-of-the-art potato farm utilizes Galileo, EGNOS and Copernicus (Sentinel satellites data) as well as aerial footage from drones and big data on daily basis in order to optimize water and fertilizer usage and increase crop yield.

'According to our calculations there’s always around 10-15% fertilizer/pesticide overlap during spraying. With the accurate guidance of EGNSS we are able to minimize this overlap down to 1%' said Van den Borne.

With around 70% of new GNSS tractors using Galileo and another 97% using EGNOS, the EU space technology is becoming the preferred technology for precision farming in Europe. Galileo’s capability of combining signals from other constellations (GPS, GLONASS) and with corrections coming from EGNOS, service provision becomes as seamless than ever.

'Some years ago, when seeding the field with my tractor my signal would get interrupted especially in areas with trees. The antennas I was using back then were only GPS + GLONASS enabled. Now with the additional Galileo satellites I have full signal reception even under the trees,' commented Van den Borne when asked about Galileo’s signal robustness. 

GSA H2020 Funded Projects: GREENPATROL and GALIRUMI

The virtual farm visit was also an opportunity to showcase the innovative character of H2020 funded Galirumi and Green Patrol projects and the added value they bring to the agribusiness sector. 

GREENPATROL is a European precision farming project aiming at developing an innovative and efficient robotic solution for Integrated Pest Management in Greenhouses. The robot uses the most sophisticated signals of satellites especially the multiple-frequencies E1, E5 of Galileo.

The EU project GALIRUMI is aiming to deliver robot weeding for herbicide-free weed control in dairy farming. Robotic weeding will reduce the environmental impact of dairy farming by eliminating herbicide use and thus reducing exposure of farm workers to herbicides. It will also help dairy farmers to switch to organic production, thereby contributing to an increase in production of organically produced milk and better incomes for farmers.

Secretary General of CEMA Jerome Bandry as well as Max Schulman chair of Central Union of Agricultural Producers and Forest Owners also joined the visit and the discussion, stressing the importance of raising awareness about the available resources and make it accessible to all farmers across the EU. 

With eyes fixed on the EU Green Deal, the European Commission has set out policies and legislations such as the Farm to Fork Strategy to support Member States in achieving food sustainability. Synergies between the EU satellite systems can support precision farming and lead to a sustainable EU agriculture, mitigating the environmental footprint and enabling the digitisation of agri-governmental controls within the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

GSA is linking the benefits of EUSpace to a wide range of applications and sectors, to tackle current and future challenges such as a sustainable farming system that is able to provide food while reducing it environmental footprint. While space is an invisible infrastructure, it does have an impact on your plate. 

Here’s a recap of the virtual visit.

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