The optimum time to harvest corn for silage is determined by its dry substance content. The SAT TS-Monitoring system uses satellite images to provide farmers with recommendations about precisely when this optimum time will be. “If corn is harvested too early or too late, the farmer can lose up to ten percent of the yield,” explains Fabian Böke, who is responsible at KWS for this project. “Up to now, the dry substance content was analyzed using three randomly chosen plants per field. But owing to differences in the soil, some plants mature earlier than others. SAT TS-Monitoring offers farmers a complete picture of the entire field and thus a more reliable forecast.”
The Innovation Award is presented by the regional business development organization “Wirtschaftsförderung Region Göttingen” in a variety of categories and with a total of 30,000 euros in prize funds. More than 100 contestants entered across all the categories. Prizes are awarded for innovative products, procedures, services, processes or business ideas. The award for the KWS digital service highlights the direction in which modern farming is developing. “Digital services such as SAT TS-Monitoring help increase agricultural yields and safeguard against possible crop losses,” says Dr. Peter Hofmann, Member of the Executive Board at KWS who is responsible for corn in Europe. “Against this backdrop, we are especially pleased that KWS won this Innovation Award for SAT TS-Monitoring. It’s definitely a solution that changes and improves things.”
About KWS*
KWS is one of the world’s leading plant breeding companies. In the fiscal year 2018/19, more than 5,500 employees in 70 countries generated net sales of EUR 1.1 billion and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) of EUR 150 million. A company with a tradition of family ownership, KWS has operated independently for more than 160 years. It focuses on plant breeding and the production and sale of seed for corn, sugarbeet, cereals, rapeseed, sunflowers and vegetables. KWS uses leading-edge plant breeding methods to increase farmers’ yields and to improve resistance to diseases, pests and abiotic stress. To that end, the company invested approximately EUR 200 million last fiscal year in research and development.
*All indications excluding the results from the companies accounted for using the equity method AGRELIANT GENETICS LLC, AGRELIANT GENETICS INC. and KENFENG – KWS SEEDS CO., LTD.
For more information: www.kws.com. Follow us on Twitter®.
