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Agronomy in high resolution is progressing as SWAT CAM continues to be implemented on hundreds of farms, so far across three countries. This automated imaging system is designed to capture, assess, and evaluate crop establishment and weed pressure. This has completely revolutionized the traditional approach to crop scouting and plant stand assessment by replacing labour intensive and biased tasks with imaging and predictive modeling.
SWAT CAM was released by Croptimistic Technology in 2023 to automate crop establishment evaluation by SWAT zone. A camera is mounted to each sprayer boom where it automatically captures 15 to 20 images per acre (6 to 8 images per hectare). The images are automatically uploaded to the SWAT RECORDS software platform where machine learning models quantify the crop establishment independent of weeds. From this assessment, an auto-generated ‘Crop and Weed Map’ is created, summarizing the crop and weed data by SWAT zone for agronomists and farmers to review. SWAT CAM is currently equipped to model the following crop types: all cereal grains (wheat, barley, oats, durum, etc.), corn, soybeans, canola, flax, lentils, peas, edible bean, faba bean and potatoes.
The primary use of SWAT CAM data is for evaluating variable rate strategies applied across the farm and identifying where improvements can be made as shown in Figure 1. However, SWAT CAM users have found additional value in this technology throughout the season beyond traditional crop establishment evaluation.
Getting Ahead of Satellite Imagery
An additional use case has involved using SWAT CAM crop maps for on/off fungicide prescriptions. Cloud or smoke cover at critical times can limit the use of satellite imagery for in-crop applications. Many SWAT MAPS farm customers and agronomy partners have found SWAT CAM crop maps to be an adequate substitute when good quality satellite imagery is not available. An advantage over satellite imagery is SWAT CAM models distinguish between crop and weeds whereas satellite imagery does not. As well agronomists and farmers can have more confidence in SWAT CAM maps in that any SWAT CAM image within the field can be viewed which connects map data to visual observations. As shown in Figure 2, no fungicide was applied in zone 10 due to low crop coverage.
Seeing it Pay Off
Kochia has become a problem weed across Western Canada and Northern US plains due to increasing resistance to multiple chemical groups. Croptimistic agronomists and researchers have developed a model that identifies kochia at early growth stages. In Figure 3, a farm customer in central SK saved approximately $34,000 by applying Edge granular herbicide (approximately $30/acre) over 1,300 acres in wet, saline zones 7-10 where kochia was most prevalent in the fall of 2022. The kochia control results were excellent in spring 2023.
Quantifying Insect Damage
Insect pressure can drastically reduce plant stands in a brief time frame. As shown in Figure 4, a SWAT CAM crop map was used to define the extremities of flea beetle damage in canola to know where reseeding was required. The farmer also was able to determine that an alternate seed treatment provided better protection from flea beetle damage. The crop was too small at this early stage for satellite imagery to detect the crop.
Value for Every Operation
These are just a few use cases of SWAT CAM, but the benefits have proved to be many, including:
- Instantly access thousands of plant level images for every crop, field, and zone across your farm
- No additional labour required to run the SWAT CAM
- Your crop and weed data are presented separately, unlike with satellite imagery
- View early-stage crop establishment before satellite imagery can detect vegetation
- Avoid cloud cover issues when capturing images
- Easily evaluate your crop establishment and weed pressure by SWAT zone
- Establish and understand long-term crop and weed growth trends by SWAT zone
- Use your weed maps for variable rate herbicide applications
- Better predict plant growth regulator (PGR) needs to guide variable rate applications
- Extend your scouting reach and scout your fields from anywhere in the world
- Access a permanent digital record of crop and weeds at time of sprayer pass for product performance enquiries or insurance claims.
- Gain a better understanding of crop establishment by linking it to your SWAT MAPS
Newest Addition: Autonomous Plant Stand Counts
In late 2023 SWAT CAM was updated to include a new plant stand count feature which automated the manual process of driving fields and performing subjective plant counts at multiple locations or flying a drone with image capture. With the new plant stand count feature, the machine learning model within SWAT CAM analyzes each image and calculates individual plants per acre or per square foot, as well as the average measurements of plant spacing as shown in Figure 5. The plant count feature is available for corn, soybean, canola, edible bean, faba bean, and potatoes. Counting of additional crops will be added soon.
Even in its early stages, SWAT CAM is becoming recognized as the pinnacle of observing what’s happening in the field. The goal of SWAT CAM should be to continually improve the variable rate strategies for each zone across the field. It is a useful tool in the SWAT ECOSYSTEM to bring greater efficiency and profitability to your farming operation. Get in touch today and let’s talk about how you can use SWAT CAM to your advantage.
Interested in learning more about SWAT CAM? Watch the YouTube video here (or click above) and visit www.swatmaps.com/ to dive into the details.
