Agricultural Weather Station

Weather is an inherent companion to agriculture. Practical meteorological instruments can help agricultural operations respond to changing weather conditions throughout the growing season.

Large, complex operations can deploy expensive equipment and employ specialized skills for their operation. However, smallholder farmers often lack the knowledge or resources to use or purchase the same equipment and services, and as a result, they operate with higher risks and lower profit margins. Farmers' cooperatives and government agencies can often help small farmers to keep the market diverse and competitive.

Regardless of the scale of the operation, weather data is useless if it is difficult to access and understand. The data must be presented in such a way that growers can extract actionable information. Charts or reports showing changes in soil moisture over time, the accumulation of growing days, or clean water (precipitation minus evapotranspiration) may help growers optimize irrigation and crop treatment applications.

Total cost of ownership is an important consideration in maintaining profitability. Purchase price is certainly a factor, but service subscription and maintenance costs must also be considered. Some complex weather stations may perform to very high specifications, but require hiring outside technicians or engineers to install, program, and maintain the system. Other solutions may require significant recurring expenses that may be difficult to justify.

Instrument solutions that provide practical information and can be managed by local users may help reduce costs and improve uptime.