Satellites used to guide farming

TalkingFields is an initiative of ESA's Integrated Application Promotion programme, aimed at producing an end-to-end precision farming information service.
The farmer requests advice for an area defined using satnav. Satellites gather information on the land’s potential – observations over several years can reveal variations in crop growth through soil changes – as well as current crop status.
These results are combined with information from field sensors such as weather conditions and soil moisture. The farmer adds in his own knowledge, and in return receives detailed satnav instructions on where and how much fertiliser to spray, for example. In principle these instructions can be fed straight into tractors or other farm equipment.