Over the past few weeks, fertiliser prices have been significantly affected by the price shock from the war in the Gulf. According to the UK’s Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board (AHDB), the price of granular urea rose by around 36% between February and March 2026, with the situation in the Gulf cited as the primary short‑term driver.
For farmers heading into another growing season of uncertainty, nitrogen – already one of the largest variable costs in arable production – is once again under the spotlight.
According to Louise Penn, agronomist and farmer at Manor Farm in Northamptonshire, every decision on fertiliser now has a much bigger financial consequence. “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.”
Trialling hyperspectral imagery on‑farm
Against that backdrop, Messium, a crop intelligence company specialising in satellite‑based nutrient analysis, has teamed up with Penn through Agri‑TechE’s Ambassador Programme. The initiative pairs farmers with technology providers to trial emerging tools in real‑world conditions and accelerate adoption where there is clear business value.
The collaboration is exploring whether hyperspectral satellite imagery can help Penn make more efficient nitrogen decisions by identifying where fertiliser is genuinely needed, and where it is not.
The key question for Penn is whether it helps her reduce nitrogen without compromising crop performance. “We’ll probably trial Messium against standard farm practice [to see what difference it makes],” Penn said.
Moving beyond ‘greenness’ metrics
Messium argues that its approach marks a step change from existing satellite‑based nitrogen tools, which typically rely on Normalised Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI). NDVI measures crop greenness and biomass as a proxy for nitrogen status but does not directly quantify nitrogen within the plant.
Messium’s system instead uses hyperspectral imagery, capturing reflectance across around 400 different wavelengths. By focusing on spectral bands that are responsive to nitrogen molecules, the technology aims to measure nitrogen balance directly within the crop.
“These new hyperspectral satellites are the first that can directly detect nitrogen uptake in the plant,” said Spencer Terry, commercial director at Messium. “We can tell whether a crop is under‑fertilised, over‑fertilised or well‑balanced throughout the growing season.”
He added: “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.”
Turning images into application decisions
At Manor Farm, Penn has already uploaded detailed field data into the Messium platform, including field boundaries, yield targets, soil types and fertiliser plans. Following the first nitrogen application, the system is now being used to guide subsequent decisions.
A hyperspectral image captured earlier this spring revealed widespread nitrogen deficiency across the field, an expected outcome after winter rainfall and before fertiliser had been applied.
“This was coming out of winter after a period of quite considerable rainfall before any nitrogen had been applied to the fields,” said Terry. What the imagery showed was a crop “in a state of fairly severe nitrogen deficiency at that point”.
Crucially, the image also highlighted variation within the field, indicating areas where deficiency was more acute and others where nitrogen demand was lower. That spatial insight can then be used to fine‑tune the next application.
“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,” Terry said. “This allows us to apply more fertiliser to the areas that are more deficient and less to those that are not.”
Collaboration as a route to adoption
Both Penn and Messium point to the Agri‑TechE Ambassador Programme as a crucial enabler of the trial, bridging the gap between promising technology and practical farm‑level needs.
“It’s important for us to work with progressive farms and agronomists who are willing to test new tools properly,” Terry said.
