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With forage maize playing such an important part of the New Zealand fodder supply chain, a useful hand-held moisture measuring device might prove useful for making good management decisions.
Using an integral near-infrared (NIR) sensor, the device is said to deliver a result in seconds via an app on a mobile device, thereby by-passing the need for laboratory analysis.
SCiO for Corn has been developed by Israeli tech company Consumer Physics, miniaturising a traditional NIR spectrometer in a pocket-sized device that connects to cloud-based algorithms.
The raw data and results are displayed on the smart device and accompanied by a trend chart showing how the crop is developing. In the paddock, non-destructive testing is carried out by sampling five or six corn cobs, then tapping the mobile app. The result is delivered within a few seconds and the company says precision and accuracy is on par with a traditional lab analysis.
The device can measure moisture between 8 and 80%. The higher values might be of interest to maize grain growers or seed producers, the latter looking to collect maturity data for the development of future varieties.
I recently had the pleasure of attending an AgFirst event in Hamilton where the results of the 2024-25 Waikato-Bay of Plenty Dairy Financial Survey were shared. Based on a 136ha farm milking 379 cows, average farm profit before tax was $405,892, an incredible 286% increase on the 23-24 season.
Over the past few months, I’ve had the privilege of speaking with many farmers at events and one-on-one.
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