TerraBlaster

Fertiliser is one of the biggest and most variable input costs for many Australian horticulture growers. Good soil information helps growers make better decisions, but for growers, the practical challenge is getting useful soil insight without adding labour, delays or extra field passes.

Since soil tests can be slow, patchy, or hard to line up with the timing of farm operations, it can be difficult to know where fertiliser is needed or not, and how to adjust rates with confidence across a paddock.

TerraBlaster is a start-up developing real-time in-field soil sensing technology for row crop agriculture.

The system uses a laser-based sensor to measure soil properties directly in the paddock while equipment is operating, then turn that information into maps that show where fertiliser may or may not be needed.

Rather than relying only on a small number of lab samples, it is intended to collect more soil data across the paddock and support more accurate, and timely, fertiliser decisions. This allows growers to move toward measurement and fertiliser application in a single pass, letting them collect soil information and adjust fertiliser rates without adding unnecessary passes or delays.

The Hort Innovation Venture Fund helps bring promising tools closer to Australian growers by supporting validation, adaptation and commercial pathways. TerraBlaster is relevant because it promises to optimise fertiliser application, integrating with spreading or spraying systems in real-time so that insights are immediately actionable. The ability to make timely adjustments by replacing the lab sample delivery reporting process virtually eliminates a major cost and decision point across many horticulture production systems.

TerraBlaster aligns with the Frontiers themes of disruptive technologies and adaptation and resilience because it turns advanced sensing into a practical farm tool. Its potential value is not just the technology itself, but whether it can fit into normal field operations and help growers make better fertiliser decisions within tight seasonal windows.

TerraBlaster could give growers and agronomists more detailed paddock maps that help decide where fertiliser is needed, and where it is not. Instead of waiting for delayed results or relying on broad soil sampling grids, growers could access more useful soil information while normal field work is already underway.

“Growers need timely, actionable information to make confident decisions, and this technology provides up to 16 times greater detail for fertiliser application than typical grid sampling and delivers results within seconds, helping growers respond faster.”

– Anthony Kachenko
General Manager Production & Sustainability R&D
Hort Innovation

For open-field horticulture, this could support better use of fertiliser, reduced waste, and more confidence when adjusting fertiliser rates across crops such as potatoes, onions, carrots, brassicas and leafy vegetables.

The grower value proposition is practical: better soil measurement can support better fertiliser decisions by reducing unnecessary input use, avoiding delays, making decisions within short seasonal windows, and building evidence to demonstrate good nutrient management for agronomists, customers or regulators.

TerraBlaster’s technology extends beyond horticulture. It is most relevant to open-field crops where standard farm equipment can move through the paddock and collect soil information during normal operations.

At scale, TerraBlaster could become a practical soil data and precision nutrition tool used alongside farm equipment, agronomy advice and input planning, with relevance to growers, machinery providers, precision agriculture software providers and fertiliser companies.