Revolutionizing Soil Management in the UK Egg Sector
Noble Foods, the leading provider of fresh eggs in the UK, is set to implement groundbreaking soil mapping technology for the first time in the egg industry. This innovative technology aims to significantly reduce carbon emissions and enhance sustainability practices on their organic egg farms.
Pioneering Technology with TerraMap
Noble Foods is adopting TerraMap, a sophisticated soil mapping system created by Hutchinsons. This technology utilizes passive gamma-ray detection to scan agricultural fields and generate high-resolution maps that reveal up to 48 soil properties, offering data at an impressive rate of 800 sample points per hectare.
Customizable Soil Insights
With six different service levels, TerraMap tailors its offerings to meet diverse business needs. The standard package includes vital soil health indicators such as pH levels, phosphorus, potassium, magnesium, soil texture, and elevation. All these metrics align with the Farming Rules for Water, ensuring compliance with legal standards.
Enhancing Precision in Land Management
The data generated from TerraMap equips Noble Foods with an unprecedented understanding of soil health, enhancing their capacity for precision land management. Emily Marshall, Agriculture Sustainability and Customer Manager at Noble Foods, expressed her enthusiasm for the technology: “Our soils are the cornerstone of our on-farm sustainability efforts; they have the ability to influence every aspect of our sustainability strategy spanning water, carbon and nature. TerraMap gives us a level of insight into the health of our soils that we’ve never had before. By understanding what’s happening beneath our feet we can make smarter decisions that benefit both the hens and the environment.”
Targeting Carbon Reduction
In addition to soil property mapping, TerraMap offers the revolutionary TerraMap Carbon, which specializes in accurately measuring organic carbon levels in the soil. This capability is essential for Noble Foods as they seek innovative techniques to minimize their carbon footprint and improve carbon sequestration in their land management practices.
Future-Proofing Sustainability Strategies
Noble Foods anticipates that the insights gained will significantly inform their 2050 Impact Strategy, shaping future land uses, carbon reduction initiatives, and biodiversity enhancements across their farming operations. They have already established biodiversity action plans across all Noble Foods-owned sites to support these goals.
Innovative Approaches to Biodiversity
The adoption of TerraMap follows Noble Foods’ earlier initiative to implement bioacoustics pollinator monitoring across 13 Purely Organic Farms. This advanced technology monitors real-time pollinator activity, providing vital data that strengthens biodiversity action plans and contributes to long-term sustainability efforts.
