Farmer-run GPS precision farming network RTK Farming is set to increase its coverage to 160,000ha within two years, opening up opportunities for more than 2000 farmers from Suffolk to Bedfordshire to have ultra-precise GPS signals beamed to them.

RTK Farming has also gained an East of England Development Agency (EEDA) grant that covers 40% of the cost of expanding the RTK (real time kinematic) GPS network established this summer. The company says it will increase its network to 12 base stations and 13 repeaters by March 2012 and is looking for new subscribers.

“Five base stations are already broadcasting a signal that covers 70,000ha of south Cambridgeshire, reaching across into Suffolk, north Essex, north Hertfordshire and east Bedfordshire,” says Cambridge-based founder member David White. “Another one will be added by the end of 2010, with a further six stations and repeaters installed by harvest 2011.”

The aim is to ensure every field in the area covered has a reliable signal at all times, using a network of base stations and repeaters. By overlapping the signals the network is never stretched to its maximum limit and if one base station is temporarily lost another can compensate.

“At £12,000 per base station the cost to an individual farmer is significant, but RTK Farming aims to spread the costs. By sharing base stations and repeaters the technology will be affordable by many more of the region’s farming community,” says Mr White.

Subscribers pay £500/year for each receiver of the RTK Farming signal up to three units, with a flat fee of £2000/year for four to six units. There is also an initial one-off £200 set-up and administration fee. This compares with the £1300/year subscription per unit per year previously paid by one of the farmer partners for a comparable system. HGCA figures indicate that the savings on seed and fertiliser alone can be up to £19/ha.

RTK Farming will be monitoring newly participating farms to quantify the improvements in accuracy of tramline width, machine efficiency, fuel, fertiliser, and agrochemical savings that come from using RTK.