This project uses UAV technologies to look at urine patches on farm. Funded by Lincoln Agritech Ltd. Case Study: Linking nitrogen application to nitrogen requirements INDUSTRY: AGRICULTURE The Need: Smarter and more responsible application of nitrogenous fertilisers to NZ's pastoral farms - reducing environmental damage while maintaining or improving productivity. The solution must be easy to use for farmers, meaning automated nitrogen sensing and fertiliser delivery that requires little or no intervention is critical to successful uptake by industry. The Solution: Lincoln Agritech has a five year Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment funded research programme to develop an automated process, termed 'Optimum-N', that estimates the amount of nitrogenous fertiliser required in pastures and applies the appropriate amount variably across the pasture. The project demonstrates Lincoln Agritech’s strengths in collaboration and it leads a research team including Lincoln Agritech, Lincoln University, Massey University, AgResearch Ltd and the University of New England (Australia). The project will develop new ways of measuring pasture nitrogen requirements and using this data for variable delivery of nitrogen fertiliser. The measurement of nitrogen will account for the variable characteristics of any single pasture, including plant species of different heights and varieties, urine-soaked soil, dung patches and bare areas.