Vall-Reparera: Precision agriculture to repair winter-damaged swards in Northern Sweden

Evaluating the potential of this framework will support farmers in improving farming practices to deal with winter-induced production losses and future climate adaptations.

Background

Forages are crucial in Swedish agriculture, encompassing the most extensive land use of available arable lands. In Northern Sweden, perennial forage crops cover approximately 80% of the agricultural landscape, and their availability, quality, and climate adaptation strongly impact the success and sustainability of livestock management and farming alternatives. The most prominent production for the livestock industry is based on grasslands, specifically ley systems (“vall”; harvested forage as part of a crop rotation).

Winter survival is a critical aspect of these ley systems. The damage to plants (winter kill) is caused by winter stresses such as variability in snow cover, fluctuating temperatures, ice encasement and the occurrence of pathogens. The resilience of ley during winter may be uncertain due to climatic fluctuations during the winter-to-spring transition, as well as species adaptation and tolerance. The past decades have shown frequent freezing and thawing sequences during winter, which, together with variability in soil moisture and fertility, pests and variable hardening conditions, have amplified the complexity of winter-induced harm and the potential to increase yield losses.

Winter kill commonly occurs in patches, where only parts of the fields are affected. When identifying its occurrence, farmers need to evaluate the best alternatives for repairing the fields as fast as possible. An alternative could be resowing mixes of fast-growing forage species for rapidly recovering winter-damaged patches. Another essential aspect to consider when repairing winter-damaged stands is the resowing method.

Nowadays, remote sensing techniques are crucial in monitoring vegetation and providing alternatives for efficient precision agriculture. In this context, drones equipped with RGB cameras have been used to monitor several crop growth processes relevant to winter kill assessment and monitoring, such as recognizing stand density. Low cost RGB drones have the advantage of being cheap, convenient and flexible, as well as accessible for non-professional users.

Project description

The project aims to develop a practical framework using precision agriculture to promote alternatives to repair grassland swards from winter kill damages in Northern Sweden. The project involves three complementary work packages (WP):

• WP1 will focus on assessing winter kill-injured patches over large ley fields using economically accessible drones;
• WP2 will evaluate fast-growth ley mixes in field experiments to efficiently repair the winter-killed patches;

• WP3 will explore the potential of new technologies, such as small unmanned ground vehicles, that could be implemented in the future to resown these patches in farms conditions.

We expect to support farmers in improving farming practices to deal with winter-induced production losses and future climate adaptations.

Collaboration

This project is a collaboration between the Department of Crop Production Ecology at SLU and Hushållningssällskapet Norrbotten-Västerbotten.