METOS SA: Weather Data Game-Changing for SA’s Farmers

South of Cape Town, in the coastal town of Hermanus, where the cool ocean wind blows across the beautiful Hemel–en–Aarde Valley, and the sun–drenched vineyards, wine producers are using new technology to plan their annual farming schedules. “It has helped us immensely when it comes to making the correct decisions when it comes to spraying,” says Pieter Willem Eksteen of Bartho Eksteen Wine Estate.

The equipment is a world-class weather station and associated technology from Pessl Instruments, supplied by METOS® South Africa. The weather stations are sophisticated, innovative, and even in the sometimes hard South African conditions. Designed in Europe by specialists with knowledge of agriculture, science and data, the system is a comprehensive tool that helps farmers to make decisions with greater efficacy, increasing output and farming environmentally and economically more sustainably..

Johan Stephan of Stephan & Son Potatoes in Sandveld, north of Cape Town, is using the same technology to plan irrigation and spray schedules, driving efficiency across the farm. “We have access to accurate, site-specific weather data instead of having to rely on estimates,” he says.

Pessl has been developing and manufacturing the hardware in Austria for 38 years. Today, the tech is distributed under the METOS® brand all over the world. Since 2019, METOS® in South Africa has been part of the WinField United South Africa group, a diversified agricultural network of businesses helping the country’s farmers to thrive.

“Weather technology has grown a lot. Before IoT, there was manual equipment and someone had to go out, at the same time, in the same place, every day, to take measurements,” says Carina Olivier, Marketing Portfolio Lead: Ag-Tech and Services at WinField United South Africa.

“METOS® weather stations are fully automatic, running from a solar panel with a backup power battery. It runs on cellular network towers – it can log every 15 mins and then sends the data through to the cloud every hour.. Technology has made it possible to have more accurate and automatic readings for the farmer’s convenience.”

WEATHER TECH

Deployment of METOS® weather stations is a game changer for farmers in southern Africa. The climate is changing and traditional methods of managing fields are no longer providing enough info to build a thorough plan. Rainfall patterns, sunshine hours, disease spread, natural disaster predictions – wherever there is a need for weather data on a hyperlocal basis, a METOS® weather station can provide support. Already prized by the University of Stellenbosch following the successful EUREKA Climate Smart Agriculture project – in which 200 weather stations have been installed across the Western Cape – METOS® infrastructure is becoming essential for modern agri operations.

“It helps the farmer in real time to plan for when is best to spray,” explains Olivier. “Most agricultural products are applied using water as a medium and there are a lot of environmental factors that can influence the efficacy of that application,”

Too hot with low humidity and the droplets can evaporate. Strong winds and the droplets blow away. Heavy rains and the crop protection products can be washed away. A precise plan is vital.

“All of this needs to be accounted for and it can become quite laborious – farmers don’t want to sit there crunching numbers. That is where the Field Climate platform comes into play. It takes all these environmental factors and provides a very nice, easy to read graph to show exactly when is best to spray,” she details.

Pairing a state-of-the-art weather station with easy-to-use software, at a good price, with the backing of international quality standards, is a winning recipe, and METOS® SA has seen significant growth – even in tough economic conditions – since gaining Pessl distribution rights five years ago.

“We are living in a very fast changing world with the climate, and we see it – especially here in the Western Cape where we have been hammered by unexpected rain patterns,” says Louise Duminy, Brand Manager WinField United South Africa. “This hardware is truly world-class and you get constant country-wide support with it. It is hyper-localised and it can tell you exactly what to expect on your farm. With changing weather patterns, and confirmation of El Niño, farmers can understand how the pattens are going to change so that they can plan ahead. It is such a help for people who have, in the past, been guessing what nature will do. It gives so much better insight and that is because the hardware is incredible. We use technology in everything we do, and this is for the farmer to do the same.”

MULTI APPLICATION  

Global warming is fuelling a large reduction of productive agricultural land in Southern Africa. Researchers suggest that over the next century usable land will decrease by a further 12%, on top of a more recent decline. Population growth continues, and a long-term food production supply/demand crisis is looming. Clear and concise data around temperatures, weather patterns, and other measurables is not only of interest to farmers. Researchers and scientists are excited about analysing deep and meaningful info to help create plans for the future.

“A farmer can see what is going on the farm and gain forecasts to plan for the week ahead. But since the network also logs the data in real time and keeps a historic record, it can be of value to research and other entities who want to study and create climate models,” details Olivier.

“We can provide universities or research centres with weather data and we are also looking to expand our market to banks, insurance companies, and anyone that can use the data for risk mitigation.”

She highlights the highly intuitive system on which the software is built as a real differentiator for METOS®. Alongside the weather stations themselves, the program is instructed to give highly accurate output.

“Pessl Instruments has an global partnership with Meteoblue – the world’s leading forecast provider – and it uses a multi-learning model where it determines  which of their 17 different weather forecast models is the most suitable for that specific location to ensure data is as accurate as possible. It also uses the data collected by the weather station to, over time, compare what was the weather prediction was and what actually happened. In this way, it learns and calibrates itself so that it can become more accurate for the area where it is installed. Combining forecast models with on the ground measurements is what makes it unique.”

There has been interest from researchers who see the weather stations as perfect tools for monitoring smart city developments. As metros look to technology to make environmental improvements to air conditions, water management, and more, this type of proven technology is well-suited.

“Meteoblue in collaboration with Pessl already does this worldwide,” says Olivier, “and this could be particularly applicable in South Africa. Weather stations could be installed across cities, in parks, on bus stops, by rivers, to collect data on temperature, wind and other climatic parameters. This can help mitigate risks from floods, storms, and other challenges.”

Others in the industry that provide weather station hardware often lack the quality of supporting software, and developers of clever programs often create without the hardware in mind. Having the whole package available together and being able to empathise with farmer in the field, sets METOS® apart.

“Pessl is focussed on agriculture and how it can bring value to the farmer. The software and all the technology and AI that they have built into the systems is of major value,” declares Olivier. “Other weather station providers , might be focused on scientific data recording, which is beneficial to a university, but it can be difficult for a farmer to use that data without actionable insight. We give the farmer tools that are easy to use and understand and can assist in quick decision making.”

EUREKA CLIMATE SMART AGRICULTURE PROJECT

Demonstrating the power of weather station coverage across the Western Cape, the Climate Smart Agriculture project set into motion by EUREKA – a JV between the University of Stellenbosch, Pessl, Metos SA, and TerraClim – shows the vast difference in microclimate between regions that sit very closely together. Complex terrain means that intelligence is required to make effective and accurate decisions while temperatures in SA are at the highest level in 138 years.

“It is focussed on the agricultural production areas. We have a large footprint in the Western Cape after a project funded partially by the SA and Austrian governments and the private entities themselves and we installed 200 weather stations as part of that project. The other 250 is stations we put in place to establish our own network,” details Olivier. In total, METOS® SAhas around 1000 weather stations active across southern Africa.

“TerraClim ingests the data and studies historic climate- and terrain data to amongst other things, determine what would be the best cultivar of grape to be planted on a specific block. It looks at different aspects such as quality and the amount of yield that could be achieved. This is helpful to the industry on a larger scale so that farms can undertake longer-term planning and hindsight analysis,” she adds.

Another value added for farmers – who can purchase a weather station outright or gain one on a lease arrangement with Metos SA – is the disease models produced by the system. The station identifies environmental factors and calculates the risk of a certain disease developing in the field, based on the pathogen’s biology. Temperature and moisture condition measurements help to calculate a risk which allows farmers to plan sprays correctly and ensure crop is protected during a time of high-risk.

ALWAYS A MARKET

The South African economy continues to teeter on the edge of recession, registering GDP decline in one quarter and slim growth the next. In the agricultural space, where work is seasonal and often reliant on export, an unpredictable economic environment has made life difficult for some farmers. But Olivier is confident that METOS® technology will not drop down the list of priorities as people try to cut costs.

“Everybody needs to eat,” she says. “There is always a market for food That is why we get tremendous support from government entities around the world. These weather stations can help farmers to work sustainably which contributes to food security and the economy. 21% of SA’s workforce is employed in agriculture. If we can’t farm sustainably then those jobs will be on the line. The system also plays a role in helping South Africa and Africa to export food.”

She adds that the data being compiled currently does sometimes make for difficult reading. Weather patterns are changing – drought is common, and temperatures continue to soar. The price of doing business in agriculture will increase, and methods will change. But, again, utilising technology to make the best decisions will be essential.

“It is a complex system but when compared to the value of crops and the value of food in the long-term, along with the inputs you can save, the value of the system is much larger than the price of the individual parts.”

In the future, the valuable complex system could be manufactured locally. Creating jobs and keeping money in the economy, METOS® SA is keen on local production to bring the value chain to South Africa. “Certain international funding entities are looking at investing in Africa and African agriculture,” says Olivier. “One of the options we are exploring is to put up a production plant in Africa so we can manufacture locally which will reduce import costs, allowing us to provide products and services at a more cost-effective price. We hope to see progress with this in the next two to three years.”

This will help to drive further roll out, and the snowball effect will mean total coverage and unparalleled information collection for the benefit of all who require consistent weather data.

“With our growing network and the projects, we have been implementing, farmers are realising the need for accurate and hyperlocal data in their operations. When we kicked off with this is 2019 in SA, it took a lot more for me to convince a farmer why they need this. Now, they approach us and they tell us they need a weather station. The brand is in a good place, the SA weather network is in a good place, and I can only see it growing exponentially from here,” Olivier enthuses.

Proof of the value delivered by METOS® SA is highlighted by Eksteen in Hermanus and Stephan in Sandveld who both agree that their partnership with METOS® SA has improved how they farm through the use of clear and concise weather data.