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CapitalPress.com
Friday, December 31, 2021
Ceres Imaging provides ‘whole
picture’ of a crop’s health
By BRENNA WIEGAND
For the Capital Press
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Ceres Imaging is break-
ing new ground thanks to its
eye-in-the-sky technology.
The Oakland, Calif.-
based company combines
high-resolution aerial imag-
ery with advanced ana-
lytics that help farms,
orchards and vineyards opti-
mize irrigation strategy and
performance.
Ashwin
Madgavkar
began Ceres Imaging as a
graduate student in 2014,
inspired by emerging tech-
nology in spectral imag-
ery and its potential to help
drought-stricken California
growers, focusing primar-
ily on specialty crops in the
Central Valley.
Today, Ceres Imaging is
a venture-backed company
delivering irrigation man-
agement solutions to grow-
ers across the U.S., Australia
and Latin America. Its plane-
based image capture helps
detect acute issues, track
and measure progress and
improve farm performance.
“To equalize the per-
formance of an entire fi eld
you must be able to see the
whole picture,” Vice Pres-
ident John Bourne said.
“It enables growers, for
instance, to fi nd out why a
certain segment of an oper-
ation is not performing like
the rest.”
Geared to operations of
1,000 or more acres, Ceres
Imaging delivers precision
irrigation solutions includ-
ing pinpointing irrigation
issues that aff ect uniformity
such as clogs, leaks and
pressure failures before they
impact crop health along
with recommendations to
refi ne irrigation strategy
based on the unique goals of
the operation. By integrating
its industry-leading aerial
imagery with the in-fi eld
sensors growers already use,
they make it easy to make
A grower examines results Ceres Imaging gathered in
fl ight. Information includes such factors as chlorophyll
levels, water stress, sprinkler distribution uniformity,
thermal maps and tree counts.
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decisions with farm data all
in one place.
“It’s not just a great
tool; it’s a whole toolbox,”
Bourne said. “A lot of times
we are able to identify things
two or three weeks before
they are visually noticeable,
often before they impact
yield.”
The results are so detailed
that growers can assess crop
health at the individual plant
level so farmers are able
to quantify the impact of
their decisions in the fi eld.
The system, geared to inte-
grate seamlessly with most
farm management software,
delivers imagery with rec-
ommendations of specifi c
actions to be taken within 24
hours of fl ying.
Ceres Imagery’s pro-
prietary algorithms result
in valuable data that helps
growers uncover opportu-
nities to improve unifor-
mity and make better irri-
gation decisions for their
businesses.
Bourne estimates that
growers managing 20% of
all specialty crop acres in the
Pacifi c Northwest are now
using Ceres on a weekly
basis, and the numbers are
growing every year.
“There’s a lot going on
in the background but for
the grower it’s actually very
straightforward,”
Bourne
said. “It’s just recommen-
dations of things you can do
that morning and that week
to improve your unifor-
mity and get ahead of yield
issues.”
The cost ranges from
$10 to $25 per acre over
the course of a season.
Planes usually fl y weekly or
biweekly depending on the
situation, enabling farmers
to track their progress and
engage on an ongoing basis.
“While there are real
challenges facing farmers,
the other story right now is
technological
innovation
that growers can harness,”
Bourne said. “Growers
today have access to detailed
snapshots of how their oper-
ations are performing, mak-
ing it easier than ever to get
ahead of yield issues and
make data-informed deci-
sions to improve growing
outcomes.”
Ceres raised $23 million
in its latest Series C fund-
ing round, bringing the total
monies raised over the com-
pany’s history to just over
$50 million.