"This was probably the best way to cover our acreage."
Patrick Pinkard, Assistant Manager

Terranova Ranch is a diversified farming operation on more than 6,000 acres in the San Joaquin Valley. A regional leader in sustainability initiatives, the ranch includes dedicated wildlife habitat, more than ten acres of solar panels, and a pioneering aquifer recharge project.

Credit_ Terranova Ranch
Crop Type
Vegetables
Location
Fresno County, California
Category
Labor management
Highlight
25-ton-per-acre gain in yield

The problem

Terranova Ranch is a large, sophisticated operation producing more than 25 different crops—from watermelon and wine grapes to in excess of 40,000 tons of tomatoes annually. Day-to-day management of the ranch is an increasingly complex undertaking: the team needed a tool that would streamline problem-solving and put their experts in the right place, at the right time to make critical corrections.

The solution

Working with Ceres Imaging, Terranova farm management used NDVI, thermal, and water stress imagery to get the high-level view of the ranch that they’d been missing. It became easier to identify variations in plant health and areas of over– and underwatering, and to assign action items for the irrigation team⁠ and other staff.

The outcome

Improved efficiency helped Terranova Ranch increase yields by 25 tons per acre.

terranova_tomatoes_before&after-01
Terranova used imagery to identify variations in plant health. Taken a few weeks apart, this water stress imagery shows improved uniformity.
These flights can cover way more ground and provide more insight than a dozen soil moisture probes—and it's cheaper to implement.
Patrick Pinkard, Assistant Manager

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