The Lemken weather station has been developed in conjunction with AppsforAgri. At the unveiling last week, Erno Buoma, the author of Weather and Crop Protection and adviser for AppsforAgri, was on hand to explain why the weather station would be a good tool for Irish growers and explain how it gets the information to the grower.

The weather station currently measures the air temperature and humidity at 75cm, the plant canopy temperature and humidity at 25cm, soil temperature at 5cm and the soil temperature at 20cm.

Using this data and also data gained from the nearest Met Éireann weather station, the app will attempt to guide the grower as to the best time to spray your crop and the perceived disease pressure on the crop at any given time.

The data from the weather station is transmitted over the Sigfox network which has close to full coverage in Ireland so this is one of the first markets where the weather station can be used to its full capacity.

Despite being a machinery manufacturer, Lemken understands that “using the right gear at the wrong time is the wrong gear” and they believe that this new development will allow their and other machines to be used at the best possible time.

The weather station has a five-year lifespan, after which it will be unusable. This is because it is a completely sealed unit and the battery will expire in or around five years.

Pricing for the weather station is an up-front payment of €1,092 plus VAT and after two years a subscription of €288 plus VAT per year for the final three years of its life. This works out at around €390 plus VAT per year over the lifespan of the weather station.

In other Lemken news, they hope to have a self-propelled sprayer on the market within two years. This new machine will be capable of working with boom widths up to 39m.

It was also hinted that there may be a collaboration in the future where a Lemken blue fertiliser spreader may appear in the market.