INCITEC Pivot Fertilisers (IPF) has signed a long-term agreement which sees its Nutrient Advantage Laboratory become the exclusive supplier of laboratory services to Precision Agriculture Pty Ltd from November 2020.

Beyond the provision of laboratory services, IPF will also partner with Precision Agriculture to support the development of novel soil testing products and services.

IPF’s Nutrient Advantage Laboratory has been one of Australia’s key nutrient testing laboratories for over 50 years and has a broad range of National Association of Testing Authorities (NATA) accredited nutrient tests.

Precision Agriculture collects, curates and interprets spatial soils data and provides nutrient mapping and spatial application solutions, including through its innovative geo-spatial information system (GIS) platform Soli, for agronomists, consultants and farmers throughout Australia.

Its methodology for intensive soil management enables a more advanced understanding and management of paddocks.

Stephan Titze

IPF president, Stephan Titze, said the company was excited about the new partnership which would add to the agronomic data and tools available to dealers, agronomists and consultants to help farmers achieve better and more sustainable outcomes in their paddocks.

“As a business, we are committed to providing our customers with market leading products and services that improve plant nutrition and soil health and lead to better and more sustainable plant nutrition for Australian farmers,” Mr Titze said.

“Intensive soil testing as carried out by Precision Agriculture complements regular soil testing carried out by agronomists every year. It provides a more detailed and accurate investigation and opens up new horizons to significantly improve plant nutrition and soil health, whilst supporting farmers to manage input costs and optimise crop yields in a more sustainable way.

“IPF believes that in the new digital world no one company has all the answers and partnerships such as this one will help to improve data driven decision making and precision farming. To use data to improve plant nutrition, soil health and environmental outcomes is a logical and necessary trend that will support a robust agriculture sector well into the future.”

Precision Agriculture chief executive officer, Todd Buck, said the alliance would benefit Precision Agriculture’s customers and assist the company in meeting the growing demand for its services.

Todd Buck

“With this announcement, our customers will have enhanced service delivery, faster results and access to a range of innovative plant nutrition and soil health solutions into the future,” Mr Buck said.

“The strategic nature of the partnership will also assist us in delivering our plan for further developing our services across our existing customer base in broadacre dryland farming, horticulture, pasture systems, irrigated agriculture and soil carbon solutions.

“Ongoing collaboration with IPF will include a focus on areas such as autonomous sampling technology, rapid infield soil testing, variable depth sampling, variable rate nitrogen applications and other innovative soil health focused opportunities.

“Demand for our services continues to grow exponentially and IPF’s Nutrient Advantage Laboratory will support us on this growth journey.”

Source: IPF