Case Study: KWS SAAT SE boosts seed sowing precision and crop yields with Hexagon

KWS SAAT SE & Co. KGaA helps farmers optimize seed sowing with satellite imagery and yield prediction

KWS SAAT SE, the world's fourth-largest seed producer, sought to move farmers away from time-consuming, manual seed sowing by creating an automated smart farming procedure. Their challenge was to manage and analyze terabytes of satellite imagery over time to generate reliable, data-driven yield predictions that would optimize seed distribution for their global customers. Partnering with vendor Hexagon, the solution leveraged their ERDAS IMAGINE software and ERDAS APOLLO for data management.

The solution implemented by Hexagon and GEOSYSTEMS GmbH created a highly automated web service. Farmers upload a field boundary to the myKWS portal, and the system quickly returns a map of yield potential zones with specific sowing recommendations by utilizing a spatial model powered by clean, pre-processed Sentinel-2 satellite imagery. This provides farmers with objective, data-based analysis that eliminates guesswork, allowing them to automatically apply the perfect seed density from their tractor cab, ultimately leading to more effective seed use and higher crop yields.

KWS SAAT SE

Julita Emersleben

IT and Customer Service Expert