Success is a system
Cygnet is a company that is always stable in the TOP of agricultural ratings. Such achievements make it sure: success in agribusiness is not a favor of luck, it is the result of a systematic approach.
Such vision united Cygnet agricultural holding and Agrilab 5 years ago.Indeed, in the agricultural business, every nuance is important. This is a complex mechanism, with thousands of interdependent details. A prerequisite for success in crop production is the availability of accurate data and accurate calculations. That is why Cygnet uses the data of complex field agrodiagnostics, which is carried out according to the unique algorithm of Agrilab.
Accuracy verified!
“We began cooperation with AgriLab in 2014,” Yuri Boridchenko says, director of crop production at Cygnet. Many companies provide this type of services today, but most of them have certain disadvantages: for example, there are those that have a perfect laboratory, but do not samples taking. So, someone sends a sample from 1 hectare, someone from 1000 hectares. They make a qualitative agrochemical analysis, but it does not correspond to the field situation, because 80% of the reliability of the agrochemical analysis – is the correct sampling. A significant part of farms today use just this method: local agronomists take samples and bring them to the laboratory for analysis. But often, the results that they get, correctly applied to the entire land mass is simply impossible, because soil samples were selected incorrectly.
One of the reasons why we turned to Agrilab is not only due to that company has more practical experience in agrochemical analysis, but also because the company independently takes samples according to the correct scheme. We used a comprehensive agro diagnostics of our fields by AgriLab at the first time in 2014. We used their recommendations 4 years. Experience shows: if normal weather conditions and enough moisture, we received the planned harvest according to the recommendations of Agrilab. This testifies to the quality service from this company.”
Complex field agrodiagnostics is a special algorithm for the field expertise and determining its natural potential. The first step is soil sampling with an automatic GPS sampler according to the grid. The samples are analyzed by complex agrochemical parameters in the Ward laboratory (USA). It also analyzes weather and climate, critical factors for crop development, field history and so on. The ratio of all these data allows us to determine the field natural potential and to develop individual recommendations.
“In 2019, we turned to Agrilab again, for the second round of examination,” Yury Boridchenko says. We are implement variable rate application and Agrilab provided agrodiagnostic with a grid of 10 hectares and helped us to develop task maps. Therefore, since last autumn, phosphorus-potash fertilizers were applied exactly over the program of differentiated application on an area of about 4000 ha. Let’s see how much the crop will change this year and in subsequent years, whether the system of differential input will meet the expectations for increasing field productivity.”
The benefits of digitalization
Agroholding Cygnet is moving towards digitalization – keeping pace with modern world trends in agribusiness. One of the digital tools that are used in the holding is the MyAgrilab portal, which allows you to accumulate, visualize and analyze fields. How this tool is useful in the work of an agronomist – Yuri Boridchenko tell.
“How far useful is the My Agrilab system for a specialist?” Firstly, much less time is spent, because when you have an Excel file, then you carry out all the calculations manually, do not have the kind of analytics before your eyes that My Agrilab provides today. Today you can unload the general array, look at general trends in terms of providing fertility elements, group fields or select a specific field, make a nutrition plan much faster and even look at the economy: whether to work on a potential crop, or recommendations. Because the definition of a potential crop provides for a significant increase in the cost of fertilizers to achieve it. If you count, then this is reflected in the millions of hryvnias of additional costs and here you need to choose: it is possible to apply a nutrition system to a potential yield for a certain array, but somewhere, nevertheless, use the planned yield approach based on the economic capabilities of the economy. Therefore, it is an extremely useful tool, and we believe that Agrilab is today the most professional company that provides services in the direction of agrochemical surveys and in the direction of precision farming.”
We would like to share such an assessment from Yuri Boridchenko, a well-known specialist, whose opinion is respected in agricultural circles … But in his words there was an undisclosed intrigue: did the expectations from the introduction of a system of differential fertilizer application come true?
Precision farming – Yes!
The other day, an official message from Cygnet appeared in the information space: the holding plans to scale up the introduction of variable rate fertilizer application in all areas: “If we experimented and looked at the technology before, then this year we have been using it on an ongoing basis. We have already received task cards for the differential application of phosphorus, potassium, sulfur and zinc. By mid-September, more than three thousand hectares of arable land had been prepared for sowing sugar beets. With the release of areas for primary processing, they will also carry out differential application of mineral fertilizers for all crops of our crop rotation.”
Precision farming – Yes!
