WORTHINGTON, Ohio and MT. AUBURN, Ill. (AgPR) — The Ohio Soybean Council (OSC), in partnership with Persistence Data Mining, Inc. (PDMI), has won its eleventh R&D 100 Award for a revolutionary soil nutrient mapping and testing platform. The PDMI hyperspectral imaging technology, Soilytics™, dramatically improves the efficiency of the soil testing process by eliminating chemical lab tests, making it faster and more cost-effective. The product also provides farmers actionable data that can help improve both profitability and environmental stewardship.
OSC and PDMI accepted the joint award during the 2019 R&D 100 Awards Banquet recently in San Francisco, California.
“We are grateful to be included with such an esteemed group of researchers and scientists. We are excited to represent AgTech for this award with a solution that helps famers, feed people and protect our environment,” said Penny Nagel, PDMI Chief Operating Officer. “We are greatful to OSC for their partnership and support. Soybean growers in Ohio and across the nation can be proud of their leadership.”
OSC is among an elete group of PDMI supporters and investors including SVG Ventures | THRIVE; InnovaMemphis / AgLaunch; and the United Nations Development Programme / UNDP ImpactAim Venture Accelerator.
How does it work?
Hyperspectral images are taken of fields and uploaded directly to labs for testing. It eliminates time at the field, shipping costs and delays, and will provide quicker results to companies and farmers.
A number of large companies have tried to figure out how to make this work in the past without much success. The problem was finding the right algorithms necessary to extract the relevant digital signatures of nutrients. Thanks to support from OSC and other forward-thinking partners, through billions of data calcuations PDMI finally developed proprietary code to identify OM, soil type, moisture, nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium, CEC, calcium, magnesium and other micronutrients at a high level of confidence that might prove to be more accurate than traditional methods.
“This technology is well ahead of the curve,” said Barry McGraw, OSC director of product development and commercializaion. “Farmers rely on soil testing to be efficient, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly. Now they can be even more precise when making decisions about fertilizing their crops. OSC has been looking for just the right partner to help farmers tackle this challenge, and we found it in PDMI.”
“Farmers need more precise, real-time, soil nutrient mapping,” said Bill Bateson, OSC chairman and farmer from Hancock County. “This type of technology can help us better manage input costs without loss of productivity, as well as protect water and soil quality. I’m really excited to see where this technology goes and proud that the Ohio Soybean Council and soybean checkoff is a part of it.”
PDMI is currently working to get this new technology in the hands of agronomic service providers, as well as developing partnerships with large equipment manufacturers and digital platform companies to move Soilytics into all areas of the precision agriculture market. PDMI has been supported by industry for the last four years starting with acceptance to the 2017 AgLaunch program in Memphis which connected them with a huge farmer network in the South for testing and validation in the field and on the farm. In 2018 PDMI was supported by THRIVE in conjunction with SVG Ventures in Salinas, CA. This program opened up additional testing and collaboration with large industry partners.
About Ohio Soybean Council (OSC)
Headquartered in Worthington, the Ohio Soybean Council is governed by a volunteer farmer board, which directs the Soybean Promotion and Research Program. The program’s primary goal is to improve soybean profitability by targeting research and development projects through the investment of farmer-contributed funds (checkoff).
For more information visit www.soyohio.org and www.
About Persistence Data Mining, Inc. (PDMI)
PDMI is introducing the Soilytics™ solution, our proprietary hyperspectral soil nutrient mapping technology. By capturing hyperspectral images of the soil samples rather then sending them to a chemistry lab, we can take more samples quicker and more efficiently. That eliminates the cost and delays of shipping. Instead, the PDMI sample results data can be uploaded directly to the agronomist or individual creating prescription fertilizer application maps. The Soilytics™ solution will dramatically improve the efficiency of farm decision making, all while reducing cost and response times. Not only will this be a huge breakthrough for the soil testing industry, it will serve the precision agricultural market by improving fertilizer application and efficiency. Our technology will help farmers increase crop yields, optimize input costs, and improve environmental protection.
For more information visit www.persistencedatamining.com or contact Penny Nagel at penny@persistencedata.com.
–Ohio Soybean Council
Persistence Data Mining, Inc.
via AgPR – the news release distribution service for agriculture
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