New hyperspectral satellite imagery crucial for lowering nitrogen use amid rising fertiliser costs

As fertiliser prices soar in response to turmoil in the Middle East, farmers are seeking ways to cut their input costs.

Messium, a crop intelligence company, has teamed up with Louise Penn, from Manor Farm, through Agri-TechE’s Ambassador Programme to explore whether this new technology could be the solution.

Over the past few weeks, fertiliser prices have been significantly affected by the price shock from the war in the Gulf, with AHDB reporting that the price of granular urea rose around 36% between February and March 2026, citing the Middle East situation as the main immediate cause.

Consequently, agronomist and farmer Louise Penn is finding new ways to reduce fertiliser costs and says that having satellite technology for precision application enables her to make more efficient use of what is becoming an increasingly expensive input.

“Nitrogen is probably one of the most expensive inputs when it comes to growing a crop of wheat, barley, or oilseed rape. So, if we can be really targeted, not only because we’re being encouraged to be more sustainable within our farming practices, but because nitrogen is so expensive,” she says.

Hyperspectral Satellites vs. Market Tech: Nitrogen Reduction

Spencer Terry, Messium’s Commercial Director, explains that their satellite imagery is distinctive from other nitrogen technologies that largely rely on ‘Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) to estimate greenness and biomass as a proxy for nitrogen health.

Messium instead uses hyperspectral imagery to directly detect nitrogen levels in each plant at a cellular level. The process captures around 400 wavelengths and evaluates how they reflect off crops, focusing on those responsive to nitrogen. This allows farmers to apply nitrogen more precisely, reducing overall nitrogen usage.

“We’re using a new type of hyperspectral satellites that are the first to be able to directly detect the nitrogen balance in the crop and measure the uptake of nitrogen in the crop. So, we can tell whether a crop is over-fertilised, under-fertilised, or well-fertilised throughout the growing season,” Spencer says.

“Previous generations of satellites were looking at vegetation and using that greenness to approximate the nutrient health and status of the crop. What we’re measuring is the nutrient status of the crop straight away, directly by looking at the nitrogen balance”.

As part of Agri-TechE’s ambassador programme, the non-profit organisation’s initiative to bring farmers and technology companies together to collaborate, trial, and better understand challenges and solutions in the agricultural sector, Messium has been working with Louise Penn to monitor satellite imagery on her family farm in Northamptonshire.

Louise has already set up the platform and uploaded all relevant field data, with unique field names, yield targets and soil types.

After adding the data on the amount of nitrogen applied on their first dose, the images from Messium will help support precision targeting in future applications to reduce nitrogen use.

“What we’ll probably do is trial Messium versus just standard farm practice,” Louise adds.

Manor Farm’s Satellite Images

The hyperspectral image captured at Louise’s family farm earlier this spring reveals a general nitrogen deficiency across the field, which is typical for the season; blue areas indicate the highest nitrogen levels, while red shows the lowest.

“This was coming out of winter after a period of quite considerable rainfall before any nitrogen had been applied to the fields. And what we’re picking up from that imagery is the field was in a state of quite severe nitrogen deficiency at that point,” Spencer says.

“The image can also detect which parts of the field have greater deficiencies than others. Then, we will use this data as input to assist with the next fertiliser application, aiming to correct those deficiencies and restore the crop to its optimal level. This allows us to apply more fertiliser to the areas that are more deficient and less to those that are not.”

Why partnerships are important to a successful farming future

Both Messium and Louise have found the pairing beneficial and encourage others to adopt a collaborative approach.

“It’s important for us to be able to work with farms like Manor Farm  and agronomists like Louise that are progressive and keen to try new technology,” Spencer says.

Louise agrees, “I think what I’ve seen in my role as an ambassador for Agri-TechE is that you’ve got people like Messium who have these really great ideas and technology, but actually it needs a steer for farmers, to understand what we need and what can actually make a difference to farm businesses. I think collaborating is great, and I’d encourage more farmers to go out there.”

At the Agri-TechE event Demo Day – Soils and Water Management, a selection of agri-technology companies will showcase their work and seek input from farmers.

For more information and to purchase tickets, visit the Agri-TechE events calendar