A SAF technician taking a soil sample with an auger in a sunflower field
Verdú · Lleida — Measuring soils since 1999

Irrigating blind costs water, yield and money

We install control points that measure the water left in your soil, at the depth where the roots are. Every morning you know whether to irrigate, how much, and how far down it reaches.

Book a free visit How it works
Experience + Technology + Knowledge
The formula we have worked with since 1999

Smart irrigation

Apply the water you need, when you need it, using data from the soil itself.

  • Moisture at 2 or 3 depths
  • A reading every 15 minutes
  • Alerts for excess and depletion
See Smart Water Point →

Your farm's own weather

Weather data from your own land, not from the next village.

  • Pest and disease risk
  • Degree days, chill hours and frost
  • Evapotranspiration for dosing
See Microclimate Point →

Knowing the soil

The spatial variability of your plots, before installing anything.

  • Conductivity map and soil pits
  • Management zones for water and fertiliser
  • A justified position for every probe
See Fast Survey →

The data viewer

Where everything the three control points measure ends up.

  • Every control point at a glance
  • Season history and comparisons
  • Alerts by email or WhatsApp
See Agzoom →

The first three measure in the field and can be installed separately or combined. Agzoom is the screen where you read them.

Twenty-seven seasons

A thousand installations build judgement

Where to place the probe, at what depth, and what its reading means. That does not come in the box with the sensor.

1.409
sensors installed in the field
365
active control points
93 %
of cases increased their productivity
99 %
of clients satisfied
The problem

The water you cannot see

Soil that looks wet on the surface can be dry where it matters. And soil that looks dry can hold plenty of reserve at 60 cm.

Over-irrigating washes fertiliser below the root zone and suffocates the roots. Under-irrigating holds back fruit size exactly when the crop is building it. Between the two there is a narrow margin, and you cannot see it from the tractor.

Our job is to measure it: probes placed according to the real variability of your plot, at the depths the roots occupy, reading every 15 minutes.

Field capacity
The water the soil holds once it has drained. Above that, whatever you apply is lost.
Wilting point
The lower limit: there is still water, but the root can no longer take it up.
Allowable depletion
The band between the two, where you make the call. In table grapes we work at around 40–50 % before irrigating again.
Installing a moisture sensor on a vine stock
Probe installation in a vineyard · SAF's own protocol
The solutions, one by one

What we install and what each one gives you

All of them use technology validated in field conditions, not in a catalogue.

Smart Water Point Irrigation

When to irrigate, and how much

Moisture and temperature probes installed at the depth of the active root, sending data continuously. The simple, robust way to manage irrigation water.

  • Optimised use of irrigation water
  • Higher yield and better fruit size
  • Efficient fertiliser management
  • A record of every action taken
A Smart Water Point unit installed in a vineyard
Microclimate Point Weather

The microclimate of the plot

A station on your own land, with the indices already worked out. Knowing when there is real pest or frost risk is worth more than the general regional forecast.

  • Pest and disease risk periods
  • Degree days and chill hours by variety
  • Frost risk with advance warning
  • Crop water requirements
The SAF team working in a fruit orchard in blossom
Fast Survey Soil

Know the soil before deciding

The spatial variability of the plot drives how you manage irrigation and fertilisation. It also decides where a control point makes sense and where it does not.

  • Variability map of the plot
  • Contrast soil pits and water properties
  • Differentiated management zones
  • A basis for sizing the irrigation system
A SAF technician installing a control point in a freshly tilled field
Agzoom · data viewer

What the grower sees every morning

Three depths, the crop's comfort window and the irrigation applied, all on the same timeline. If the −60 cm line does not rise after irrigating, the water is not reaching the bottom.

Probe at −20 cm Comfort
27,4% vol
Probe at −40 cm Reserve
24,8% vol
Probe at −60 cm No recharge
22,1% vol
La Plana farm · Verdú (Lleida) · Table grapes · SWP-04
24 h 14 days Season Compare plots
Available water
62%
In comfort
Irrigation applied · 14 d
31,2mm
4 irrigation events
Next irrigation, estimated
in 2 days
suggested dose 6.5 mm
Wetted depth
42cm
active root down to 60 cm

Volumetric soil moisture by depth

% vol · 24 Aug – 6 Sep · probe SWP-04
12 16 20 24 28 32 Field capacity · 30 % Wilting point · 14 % −60 cm 22,1 % vol −40 cm 24,8 % vol −20 cm 27,4 % vol 24 Aug 26 Aug 28 Aug 30 Aug 1 Sep 3 Sep 5 Sep 6 Sep Irrigation and rain · mm/day 6,5 7,2 4,0 8,1 5,4
Sample data for this mock-up · not from a real farm Hover the chart to read each day
How we work

Three steps, always in this order

No sensor goes in before we understand the soil underneath.

A SAF technician checking a unit in a maize field
Step 01

Visit and diagnosis

We come to the farm. Soil pit, texture, effective rooting depth and plot variability. That is what decides where each probe goes, and how deep.

The SAF team working in a fruit orchard in blossom
Step 02

Validated installation

Equipment proven in field conditions, not in a catalogue. Our own protocol, refined over more than a thousand installations. It is up and running the same day.

A Smart Water Point unit installed in a vineyard
Step 03

Data supervision

Interpretation, validation and modelling of the readings throughout the season. An agronomist looks at your data; the dashboard is only the tool.

We specialise in

Every crop drinks differently

The probe is the same one. What changes is the depth, the threshold and when to push or ease off.

Table grapes

Water stress control at fruit set and veraison, so you lose neither size nor sugar.

Super-intensive olive and almond

Controlled deficit irrigation without mortgaging next year's crop.

Broadacre crops

When to apply the last irrigation, and how much reserve is left in the profile before closing the season.

Vegetables

Short cycles and high-frequency irrigation: here decisions are made by the hour, not by the day.

Subsurface drip

Checking that the wetted bulb reaches the root and is not lost below it.

Fruit trees

Water requirements by growth stage, chill hours and frost risk warnings.

Sample text · real case study pending
“We had been irrigating by calendar for years. Our first summer with the probes we cut out two whole irrigations and the fruit came out bigger. What convinced me was not the chart: it was the call in July telling us the water was not going down.”
Client name · Farm and town · Table grapes, 18 ha
Season result
−18%

less water applied than the previous season, with the same yield.

First step

We start by coming to see it

In one visit we assess which solution fits your farm best. No commitment, and you get a written recommendation even if you install nothing.

Phone
+34 973 347 201 · 636 990 493
Email
info@safsampling.com
Office
Plaça Major, 21 · Verdú (Lleida) · CP 25340
Area
We work across Lleida, Aragón, Extremadura, Andalucía and Murcia

Book your visit

We call you back within 48 working hours.

Fields filled in as an example for this mock-up. The form does not send anything.