Zema Global has partnered with satellite crop intelligence provider SatYield to offer in-season forecasts of agricultural yields and production in the US and Brazil, Trade Finance Global reported. Announced on 14 October, the collaboration aims to help commodity market participants identify changes in physical supply earlier and use that information in trading and risk management.
The service will cover more than headline production estimates. Its datasets will include planted and harvested acreage, crop condition measures, harvest progress, growth stages and weather effects, alongside historical records and supporting documentation. The partners identified soy and corn traders, hedge funds and energy market participants involved in biofuels as particular audiences for the analytics.
SatYield combines satellite observations with biophysical crop modelling to assess how crops develop during the growing season. That approach is intended to give users visibility into changing field conditions and yield prospects before the harvest is complete. Zema Global will align those physical crop signals with market and weather information, making them available for use in market decisions, according to SatYield co-founder and chief executive Gabby Nizri.
The underlying technology uses cameras and sensors to capture information across different wavelengths, including visible, infrared and thermal light. Trade Finance Global explained that healthy vegetation absorbs blue and red light for photosynthesis while reflecting near-infrared light strongly. Analysis of these signals can help assess plant vigour, water content and drought stress, as well as soil temperature and evaporation. The report also described capabilities for examining surface moisture through cloud cover and darkness.
Nizri said commodity markets need independent indicators that reveal shifts in physical supply before those changes become broadly recognised. The partnership is designed to bring that earlier view into trading workflows by connecting crop observations with other market inputs. Its geographical coverage centres on two major agricultural exporting countries, giving users a common source of in-season crop intelligence across the US and Brazil.