August 31, 1999
LAWRENCE -- A new company that aims to provide improved forecasting of crop conditions and yields is getting a hand from the University of Kansas.
The company, called Agrimetrix, was founded in April. It is using massaged satellite data related to crop and other vegetation changes supplied to it by the KU-based Kansas Applied Remote Sensing Program, or KARS.
For several years, KARS has been publishing a "Green Report" each week. The report is a series of U.S. maps color-coded to reflect crop and vegetation conditions.
They show how green - or lushly vegetated - any spot in the United States is relative to the 10-year average for that spot, relative to the same week in the previous year and relative to the previous week, said Ed Martinko, director of KARS.
Thus, the Green Report provides advance warning of where crops are likely to do well and where they're in trouble. In 1996, for example, KARS knew well in advance of the price drop for wheat that the crop was failing, said Kevin Price, KARS associate director.
Agrimetrix, founded in April, is a result of a partnership that includes Strategic Weather Services, based in Wayne, Pa.; Farm Journal, an agricultural marketing services company that distributes a daily agribusiness show through 160 stations; and Terrametrics, a Lawrence-based firm that markets and distributes the Green Report.
Martinko said that Agrimetrix's crop forecasts will be helped by the astonishing accuracy of the long-range weather forecasting of Strategic Weather Services, or SWS.
Even at 18 months out, he said, SWS is right 85 percent of the time.
Its reputation for accuracy has commanded the attention of retail-chain clients eager to plan inventories for stores in a variety of climates throughout the United States, Martinko said. "When our crop models are used in conjunction with Strategic Weather's historic weather models, we will be able to provide an advanced picture of conditions and yields," Martinko said.
Several different kinds of business will benefit from Agrimetrix forecasts, Martinko said. "Crop insurance industries will be able to anticipate and manage risk if troubled areas are identified early," Martinko said.
"Agricultural chemical companies will be able to learn where to move products. Grain storage and transportation concerns will be able to plan; and, as crop conditions are monitored, commodities traders can adjust their purchases throughout the season.
"A major aspect of our venture will be to work directly with each company to develop and deliver the specific information they think is important in their decision-making."