Agrii has announced a new partnership with TELUS to help transform farm data integration and its use across digital technologies.

The collaboration, unveiled at the Oxford Farming Conference, will integrate Agrii’s Contour platform with TELUS Crop Management, bringing greater interoperability across a farm’s digital ecosystem, says Agrii’s Dr Ruth Mann.

Furthermore, the partnership supports the industry’s move towards Agriculture 5.0 – the next stage in the evolution of farming, she adds.

“We’ve been looking at how artificial intelligence (AI) can take all of the big data available – from sensors, satellites, drones, AI and other emerging technologies – and pull it together to provide better analytics.

“Through our collaboration with TELUS, that is exactly what we’ll now be able to achieve, freeing up time to focus on the things that really matter when it comes to optimising agronomic decisions.”

People-centric approach

According to Ruth, the defining feature of Agriculture 5.0 is the role of people in the system, with technology designed to support rather than replace human judgement. “The real benefit of Agriculture 5.0 is that it places the human back at the centre as an integral part of the crop production system.

“We can use AI to analyse data and identify trends and risks in real time, then supply that information back to the agronomist and the farmer who can make the final decisions using their experience and historic knowledge.”

Trial results

Ruth points to results from Agrii’s digital technology farm trials as evidence that this approach can deliver clear commercial returns. “When we start to use technology there’s usually an increase in input costs, and we did see around a 7% rise in this particular winter wheat trial.

“However, those costs were offset by more targeted decision-making, with yields increasing by around 0.8t/ha through the combined use of data, AI, and farmer and agronomist insight.”

The trials also delivered a 23% reduction in kg CO₂e, an improvement in NUE, and an increase in gross margin of £137/ha – highlighting the potential to improve both financial and environmental performance.

Ben Hatton, manager of sales at TELUS Agriculture, says the company is excited to be working with Agrii to unlock more value from farm data. “This partnership is about making technology work better on farm. By focusing on integration and data standards, we can ensure information flows smoothly, helping turn real-time data and insights into action.

“We recognise that the UK has very specific requirements around toolsets, integrations and partnerships, and are very excited to be partnering with Agrii. By bringing our technologies together, we can help make better use of both the data and the human expertise already on farm.”

Ruth explains that the integration sits within Agrii’s wider RHIZA digital ecosystem, with Contour continuing to act as the core platform through which data are brought together to support on-farm decisions.

“We look forward to leveraging this partnership to help increase the resilience and performance of the farm businesses we support.”