KestrelMet 6000 AG Weather Station Supports Informed IPM and Irrigation Decisions

August 15, 2022 Monica Devlin Comments

The KestrelMet 6000 AG Weather Station helps farmers to make better decisions when it comes to pest and irrigation management.

On-farm weather stations like the KestrelMet™ 6000 AG provide timely, localized data to support better decision making for irrigation and integrated pest management.

Emile Guedon, Guedon Farms in Natchez, Mississippi.

Emile Guedon, a grower in Natchez, Mississippi, says that KestrelMet 6000 AG weather stations are used several times each day by Guedon Farms managers to make critical decisions across his family’s sprawling, diversified row crop operation.

"We monitor rainfall, humidity, wind speed and outside temperatures to determine when to spray. It helps us to actualize the real-time micro-weather environment better. If I want to know what’s happening, I can check the app and quickly view dewpoint, temperature, barometric pressure, windspeed and wind direction on that section.”

Guedon Farms has an active social media presence often posting images and videos from life on the farm – including weather updates provided by the KestrelMet AG Weather Stations as seen in this screen shot from the KestrelMet app. Follow @GuedonFarms on Instagram for more stories from the farm.

With irrigation management, he says, his KestrelMet 6000 AG units help him keep better track of rainfall in fields located miles from his farm headquarters. “If we have wells running and get a good rain, we need to get someone over there quickly and turn the wells off. If we didn’t know that information, we’d have to send someone out to check the wells and maybe lose a guy for half a day. Considering the price of diesel and time wasted, it doesn’t take many trips to pay for a weather station.” In addition to measuring real-time weather conditions, and soil moisture and temperature monitoring, the KestrelMet also provides growers with field-specific data related to evapotranspiration (ET) and growing degree days (GDD) — key factors in managing for enhanced crop performance and more efficient irrigation.

Why the KestrelMet 6000?

"We bought a few of the 6000s this year to see how we’d like them," says Guedon. "It came almost pre-assembled. Setup time was easy. I set one up and it took eight minutes start to finish, including activating it on my phone. I really don’t see how it could get much easier. "

"It has a well-thought-out design," Guedon continues, "and I really like that it doesn’t need an external power source, with its built-in, solar-powered battery. They are reliable. You don’t have connection issues. And since it has its own power source, you have the freedom to put it up anywhere you want."

"Hardware is awesome. Software is awesome. Like most farmers, there’s always something I want to add, and one thing about KestrelMet is they listen to us. They are responsive when we bring them ideas."

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Monica Devlin