Biomass & Bioquality
Just as rainfall and soil-related factors are crucial for understanding risks and opportunities of any land, identifying the amount of vegetation and its health is also central in determining the current condition, potential and limitations of any agricultural property. Considering these variables simultaneously presents a holistic picture of the historical environmental resilience to help making investment and land management decisions for agricultural buyers, lenders and investors.??
This is why we’ve decided to build on our productivity maps by including biomass and bioquality, two variables that relate to the level of yield and typical crop quality of any particular area, respectively. These features originate from cumulative NDVI data and are useful to measure how successful the property has been at producing a specific type of crop or pasture in any season of the year over, at least, a decade. One of the greatest values of including this information in a property report is that it helps not only to assess the performance of an area over the years but also to compare any two different paddocks and determine which one produces more per area of land.
Biomass | Total Output
For any agricultural agent, determining production yield is at the core of operations and strategies undertaken through time. In general terms, yield estimates are obtained from the observed data of two fundamental values: the total productive area of land (hectares) and the quality per? unit area (tonnes per area) . In relation to the total agricultural output or biomass, having an accurate and updated record of the volume, for example of seasonal crop over the years leads to a broad understanding of its productivity in any property, as well as the most prolific years so far.?
Having access to this information is helpful to tweak, improve or change agricultural management plans and aim for higher efficiency, productivity and profitability considering the specific conditions of the land in use. Adding this up to the rainfall and soil data presents us with a solid overview of the specific patterns and characteristics of the property which translates into better planning, agricultural practices and future outcomes.?
Bioquality | Output per Hectare
Far beyond the quantity of a harvest, production yield depends on the overall growth and health of the crop itself over time, i.e. its bioquality. As a consequence, breaking down relevant information about the condition of the harvest is also a useful tool to look into other factors, for example soil quality itself, pests, diseases or lack of water. This is the reason why assessing crop bioquality is essential for setting expectations about production yield, as it has a direct impact on the marketability and sustainability of any agricultural output.?
In summary, including Biomass and Bioquality in our Property Reports enhances the level of analytical precision and presents a broader and more comprehensive outlook of the land by throwing light upon:
Limitations
Just as with any new addition, our Biomass and Bioquality features are works in progress which we aim to? keep improving and adjusting in the coming months. At the moment, measuring the quality of a crop is not as simple or straightforward as it seems. Depending on the crop, a specific set of parameters is considered to define high, average or low quality associated with its unique traits. For this reason, this tool is good for comparisons between two lands that grow the same crop or else it will base its results on just one typical crop type. Aligned to this, our features are better understood when used for comparing and contrasting rather than taken as a direct measure of biomass and bioquality.?
Finally, quality can be a tricky variable to navigate since it may be linked to seasonal or circumstantial factors such as droughts, floods and extreme weather conditions and farm management practices. This makes it hard to determine if the value fluctuations stem from intrinsic or extrinsic factors.?
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Moree, NSW
The following information gives insight into the region of Moree, NSW comparing and contrasting Biomass & Bioquality values for 2019 and 2020.
Using the colours of the maps is an easy way to quickly identify greater areas of crop in 2020. This is directly related to the land use shifting from a majority of fallow paddocks and some summer crops in 2019 to summer crops and a majority of winter crops in 2020.
Biomass
Analysing the specific values of Biomass throughout 10 years (see graph below), illustrates what was already hinted in the maps. The yellow areas, representing summer crop, have remained at low levels during this decade. On the other hand, the winter crops have sudden and significant fluctuations. From an average level recorded during 4 years, and an abrupt spurt in 2014 which was sustained until 2016, winter crop fell to low levels and remained constant for a year. Finally in 2020, a rapid growth not only meant a recovery of output levels but the highest quantity ever recorded in this area.?
Bioquality
Regarding bioquality, as shown in the graph below, summer and winter crops have recorded values that range from average to high in the last 11 years. Overall, summer crops have had a general improvement in its bioquality despite light seasonal fluctuations which could in part be due to the extensive irrigation in the area. The same can be pointed out for winter crops; nonetheless the sharper ups and downs of its values may be the reflection of seasonal challenges or management practices.?
In conclusion, including biomass and bioquality in our reports is an important step to strengthen our analytical tools and enrich the general outlook of any land in the world not only for agricultural but also environmental purposes.
We are currently working on commodity specific yield models which will enhance the level of detail of our reports because they will include estimates of total tonnes per hectare across a varied range of crops.
Make sure you check out these new features and stay tuned for those to be released over the coming weeks!