A smart farming challenge organized by Germany-based BayWa has announced three finalists who had submitted ideas and innovations for more climate-friendly agriculture based on satellites.

The young companies Audili, Auravant and Cept were selected from a total of 36 candidates.

BayWa said the three were the most convincing with their solutions and have been selected as candidates for the final round at the beginning of December.

The BayWa Smart Farming Challenge is one of this year's eight categories of the international Copernicus Masters competition, which the Application Centre Oberpfaffenhofen (AZO) holds annually on behalf of the European Space Agency (ESA).

Audili from Austria is one of the finalists selected by a jury consisting of representatives of BayWa AG and its subsidiaries FarmFacts GmbH and Vista GmbH. The company offers a software application that uses satellite data to determine the nutrient content of arable and pasture land. Soil samples on site are no longer necessary.

Big Data specialist Auravant of Argentina has developed a digital platform that combines field information, including satellite data, into processable data. Since its market launch a year ago, the platform has been used by farmers and growers in 26 countries to manage more efficiently, save costs and time, and increase yields.

The third candidate to make it to the final round is the Danish young company Ceptu. From space, the Danes are able to identify both field boundaries and cultivated fruit species with the greatest precision.

Farmers can use satellites not only to monitor the development of their own crops, but also to make regional, national or even international comparisons. The solution enables agricultural traders to estimate supply and demand for various types of fruit at an early stage and at a global level based on seasonal trends.

Following the successful launch of the Smart Farming Challenge last year, BayWa and its subsidiaries are now looking for innovations in the field of satellite data remote sensing for the second time.

The aim is to further develop and supplement existing BayWa solutions in this field or to discover completely new approaches.