Which of your fields lost nitrogen in the last rain?
Most farms can’t say. The nearest weather station is miles away, and county averages smooth over your low spots. TerraVue is building sensors that live in your dirt — and software grounded in Iowa State research that tells you what’s happening, zone by zone.
We’re not selling yet. Join the waitlist to hear from us first.
- Built on Iowa State research
- We install and maintain it
- You own your data
What we do
Four questions every Iowa grower asks — answered from your own ground.
TerraVue is one package: sensors, installation, maintenance, lab tests, and software. You make every decision. We bring the data and the reasoning.
Did that rain cost me nitrogen — and where?
Soil moisture and temperature sensors track how long each zone stays waterlogged. Using Iowa State’s loss estimates, we flag the zones where nitrogen is at risk — so rescue N goes where the loss happened, not across the whole farm.
Is the ground ready to plant, spray, or carry equipment?
Seed-zone temperature tells you when corn will actually start growing. Soil moisture tells you when a field can carry a planter or combine without compacting it. Wind speed, plus temperature at two heights, tells you when the spray window opens — and when an inversion makes it a bad idea.
Is disease weather building in my canopy?
A leaf-wetness sensor at ear height, plus temperature and humidity from the field weather station, tracks the conditions tar spot needs — so fungicide follows risk instead of the calendar.
Can I prove what I did?
Every action you log is time-stamped, cryptographically signed, and backed by what your sensors recorded that day — records built for landlords, crop insurance, and USDA conservation programs.
Why it matters
The costliest calls are made with the least data.
Weather stations sit miles away, and county averages smooth over the differences between your fields. But the things that decide yield and input costs happen field by field — and some of them happen fast.
2–5%
of the nitrate in a waterlogged field can be lost for each day it stays saturated — faster as soils warm.
Source: Iowa State University Extension
10–20%
estimated yield loss where wheel traffic compacts wet soil. Iowa State advises waiting until soil water drops below field capacity.
Source: Iowa State University Extension
231M bu
of U.S. corn lost to tar spot in 2021 — more than to any other disease that year.
Source: Crop Protection Network
50°F
Below this soil temperature, corn seed takes up water but won’t start root or shoot growth.
Source: Iowa State University Extension
Run the numbers
What does a wet spring cost you?
Plug in your own numbers. This uses Iowa State Extension’s published estimates for how much soil nitrate is lost for each day a field stays saturated.
Not sure? Use what you applied. That’s the worst case — nitrogen that hasn’t converted to nitrate yet isn’t at risk.
Estimated nitrogen lost
13–16
lb N per acre
8–10% of your nitrogen
That assumes every acre stayed saturated. Usually they don’t — low spots and poorly drained zones stay wet longer than the rest. Showing which zones actually crossed the line is exactly what field-level sensors are for.
Source: Iowa State University Extension
An estimate of denitrification loss only. Actual losses vary with soil, nitrogen form and timing, and drainage. Replacement value is lost nitrogen times your price — not a yield prediction.
The science
Inside a wet Iowa field
Here’s what happens below the surface after a heavy rain — and where TerraVue’s sensors sit to catch it.
- 1
Top probe sensor
Soil temperature and moisture near seed depth (4 in). Below 50°F, corn seed takes up water but won’t start growing.
- 2
Root-zone sensors
A reading every 4 inches down to 2 feet, counting the hours each layer stays waterlogged — the clock that drives nitrogen loss.
- 3
Bottom sensor (2 ft)
Shows whether water is draining down or backing up in the subsoil.
- 4
Denitrification
In warm, waterlogged soil, microbes run out of oxygen and turn nitrate into nitrogen gas — roughly 2–5% of it per saturated day, per Iowa State.
- 5
Leaching to tile
Excess water carries nitrate down to the tile line and out of the field.
- 6
Canopy sensor
Leaf wetness and leaf temperature at ear height, right where disease gets started.
- 7
Weather station
Rain, wind, air temperature, and humidity at the field — plus a second temperature sensor near the ground that catches inversions before you spray.
- 8
Farm gateway
Mounted high at the farmstead on farm power. Collects every sensor’s readings over long-range radio and sends them on over cellular.
Under the hood
The technology, and the research behind it
TerraVue isn’t a black box. Here’s what we measure, the published science behind each reading, and how the pieces fit together. How we weigh and combine the signals is our own work — but every input stands on research you can look up.
How the system fits together
1 · Sense
Field sensors
Soil moisture and temperature, leaf wetness, and field weather
2 · Transmit
Long-range radio
LoRaWAN to a farm gateway, then cellular to the cloud
3 · Combine
TerraVue software
Weather · satellite NDVI · USDA soil survey · lab tests · ISU research
4 · Alert
Plain-English calls
Text and app alerts, field by field
5 · Prove
Signed records
Tamper-evident proof of what you did and when
Nitrogen: where it goes in a wet spring
Which zones are losing nitrogen after heavy rain — so rescue N goes only where it pays.
What we measure
Hours of saturation and soil temperature, layer by layer, around the clock — confirmed in season by the late-spring soil nitrate test, the lab test Iowa State calibrated for this decision.
The science
Nitrate moves with water. When warm soil stays waterlogged, microbes run short of oxygen and convert nitrate to gas. Iowa State Extension estimates losses of about 2–2.5% of soil nitrate per saturated day at 55–60°F, and 4–5% per day above 65°F. Extra water also carries nitrate down and out through tile lines.
What it tells you
A zone-by-zone loss-risk estimate, anchored to Iowa State’s Maximum Return to Nitrogen (MRTN) rate guidance — the economic optimum built from hundreds of replicated Iowa trials.
Why we don’t bury a nitrate sensor
In-ground nitrate electrodes are promising, but researchers note there hasn’t yet been a long-term study of their lifetime or reliability in the field. So we measure the conditions that drive nitrogen loss continuously, and confirm nitrogen status with tests agronomists already trust.
Soil water, measured directly
How wet your soil is — from near the seed down to 2 feet.
- What we measure
- A multi-depth capacitance probe in each management zone, reading every 4 inches down to 2 feet, around the clock.
- The science
- Water’s dielectric permittivity (about 80) is far higher than that of soil minerals (roughly 3–5) or air (1). The probe’s electric field senses that difference and converts it to volumetric water content. Soil texture and salinity shift the response, so readings are checked against soil-specific calibration.
- What it tells you
- How long each zone has been saturated, when ground is dry enough to carry equipment, and how much water the crop has to work with.
Source: Water Resources Research, 1980
Soil temperature near seed depth
Whether your ground is ready to plant — field by field, not county by county.
- What we measure
- Soil temperature every 4 inches, starting near seed depth.
- The science
- Below 50°F, corn seed takes up water but doesn’t start root or shoot growth. Iowa State recommends planting when soils are 50°F or warmer, or near 50°F and rising quickly after mid-April. Temperature also sets the pace of the soil microbes that transform — and lose — nitrogen.
- What it tells you
- Planting readiness by field, and the temperature input behind nitrogen-loss estimates.
Source: Iowa State University Extension
Disease weather inside the canopy
When infection conditions line up — so fungicide follows risk, not the calendar.
- What we measure
- Leaf-wetness duration at ear height, plus air temperature and humidity from the field weather station.
- The science
- Research summarized by the Crop Protection Network links tar spot to extended mild stretches (about 64–73°F over 30 days), humidity, and repeated wet–dry cycles. Those conditions play out inside the canopy, where a weather station in town can’t see them.
- What it tells you
- Risk alerts when conditions favor disease, for spray decisions you can defend.
Sources: Crop Protection Network · Crop Protection Network
What leaves through your tile
When conditions are pushing water — and the nitrate it carries — toward your tile.
- What we measure
- How long each layer stays saturated, and whether water is moving down through the profile.
- The science
- Nitrate loss through tile drainage rises with above-normal rainfall. In Iowa State research at Gilmore City, annual tile nitrate losses ranged from 1 to 75 pounds of nitrate-N per acre, depending on the year.
- What it tells you
- When conditions favor nitrate leaving through tile — useful for drainage management and conservation records.
Source: Iowa State University Extension
Spray windows you can defend
When to spray, when to wait — and a record of the conditions when you did.
- What we measure
- Wind speed and direction, air temperature and humidity, and temperature at two heights from a weather station at the field.
- The science
- Drift potential is lowest in a steady 3–10 mph breeze. Light winds (0–3 mph) are unpredictable, and on clear early mornings and evenings cool air near the ground can get trapped under warmer air — an inversion that carries fine droplets off target. Comparing temperature near the ground with temperature higher up shows when that layer has formed.
- What it tells you
- Spray-window alerts that account for wind and inversions, logged alongside each application.
Source: University of Nebraska–Lincoln
Your fields from above — and below
Where your fields really differ, so each sensor stands for a real piece of ground.
- What we measure
- Satellite crop-vigor imagery (NDVI) and USDA soil survey data for every field.
- The science
- A healthy canopy reflects near-infrared light and absorbs red; NDVI turns that contrast into a crop-vigor map. Public satellite programs like ESA’s Sentinel-2 (10-meter pixels) and NASA’s MODIS (250-meter pixels) supply the imagery. USDA’s SSURGO database maps soil series, texture, and drainage class.
- What it tells you
- Management zones and sensor placement that match your ground.
Sources: European Space Agency · NASA · USDA NRCS
A network built for farm country
No trenching, no wiring, and no cell plan for every sensor.
- What we measure
- Every sensor reports on its own schedule, around the clock.
- The science
- Sensors talk over LoRaWAN, a long-range, low-power radio standard that runs on the unlicensed 902–928 MHz band in the U.S. Small data packets travel across fields to a gateway mounted high at the farmstead, which forwards them over cellular. Low power draw is what lets sensors run on batteries instead of wiring.
- What it tells you
- Continuous readings from every zone without wiring your fields.
Source: LoRaWAN regional parameters
Records anyone can verify
Proof of what you did and when — built to stand up to landlords, insurers, and auditors.
Each action you log is fingerprinted with SHA-256, a cryptographic hash: change a single character of the record and the fingerprint changes completely. At the moment it’s captured, the record is also signed with a secret key (HMAC) and stored with the sensor and weather conditions at that time.
Anyone you share a record with — a landlord, an insurer, an auditor — can check its fingerprint against our signature to confirm it hasn’t been altered since the moment it was captured. No login, no phone call.
Source: NIST
Want to be first in line when TerraVue reaches your area?
Join the waitlistValidation
We’ll test it before we ask you to trust it.
Sensors and models are only worth something if they hold up against real measurements. These are the targets we’ll hold our system to in the field — targets, not results we’ve already achieved.
Soil moisture
against lab-measured (gravimetric) soil samples
±8% VWC
Soil temperature
against NIST-traceable reference thermometers
±0.5°C
Nitrogen-loss estimates
against paired late-spring soil nitrate tests
r² ≥ 0.7
Nitrogen rate guidance
of Iowa State’s MRTN-recommended rates
±15%
r² measures how closely two sets of measurements move together; 1.0 is a perfect match.
Our goals
What we’re working toward
Better calls, not more charts
Give Iowa farmers field-level evidence for nitrogen, spray, and field-timing decisions — delivered as plain-English calls, not dashboards to babysit.
Keep nitrogen in the field
Help farms put nitrogen where it pays and keep it out of tile water — good for margins, and for Iowa’s Nutrient Reduction Strategy goal of a 45% cut in nitrogen and phosphorus loads.
Source: Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy
Make stewardship provable
Turn the conservation work farmers already do into verifiable records for landlords, insurers, and USDA programs.
All-in and affordable
One package — sensors, installation, maintenance, lab tests, and software — with no hardware to buy.
Prove it in the field first
Hold our sensors and models to lab measurements and Iowa State’s published methods before we make claims about them.
Your data stays yours
We don’t sell your data or share it with input suppliers, and you can export it any time.
Straight talk
Where we are today
We’re a family-owned Iowa LLC based in Des Moines. We’d rather tell you exactly where we stand than oversell it.
Software
A working platform today — field mapping, alerts, and signed records. We’ll keep building it around our sensor package.
Waitlist
Open now for Iowa growers, agronomists, and partners.
Sensor package
Being finalized. No TerraVue sensors are in fields yet.
Field validation
With our first Iowa farms, measured against the targets above.
Questions
Questions you might have
Can I buy TerraVue today?
Not yet. We’re finalizing our sensor package and building the waitlist. Join and you’ll be among the first to hear from us as TerraVue becomes available.
Does joining the waitlist cost anything or commit me to anything?
No. It’s free, and there’s no obligation. We’ll only contact you about TerraVue.
What will it cost?
Pricing isn’t set yet. It will be one all-in, per-acre price for the season — sensors, installation, maintenance, lab tests, and software, with no hardware to buy. Join the waitlist and we’ll share it with you directly.
Who is TerraVue for?
Iowa corn and soybean operations. We’re designing with larger and rented-ground operations in mind, where timing calls and documentation matter most — but we want to hear from any Iowa grower.
Do you bury a nitrate sensor in my field?
No. In-ground nitrate sensors haven’t yet shown long-term reliability in the field. We measure the conditions that drive nitrogen loss and confirm nitrogen status with the lab test Iowa State calibrated for this decision, the late-spring soil nitrate test.
Who owns my data?
You do. We don’t sell it or share it with input suppliers, and you can export it any time.
Are you affiliated with Iowa State University?
No. TerraVue USA is an independent Iowa company. We build on research published by Iowa State University Extension and others, and we cite it throughout this page.
I’m an agronomist, retailer, researcher, or sensor company. Can we talk?
Yes. Choose your role on the waitlist form and tell us what you have in mind, or email Tyler@terravueusa.com.
Waitlist
Join the TerraVue waitlist
Tell us a little about you and your ground. It takes about a minute.
- Be among the first to hear from us as TerraVue becomes available
- Free, with no obligation
- You’ll talk to a founder, not a sales team
- We’ll only contact you about TerraVue
Prefer email? Tyler@terravueusa.com
Sources and references (16)
- Sawyer, J. “Estimating Nitrogen Losses in Wet Corn Fields.” Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Integrated Crop Management, 2014. crops.extension.iastate.edu/cropnews/2014/06/estimating-nitrogen-losses-wet-corn-fields
- Elmore, R. “Influence of Soil Temperature on Corn Germination and Growth.” Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Integrated Crop Management, 2012. crops.extension.iastate.edu/cropnews/2012/03/influence-soil-temperature-corn-germination-and-growth
- Al-Kaisi, M., Licht, M., and Tekeste, M. “Plan Ahead to Minimize Soil Compaction During Harvest.” Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, 2019. crops.extension.iastate.edu/cropnews/2019/09/plan-ahead-minimize-soil-compaction-during-harvest
- “Corn Disease Loss Estimates From the United States and Ontario, Canada — 2021.” Crop Protection Network, 2022. cropprotectionnetwork.org/publications/corn-disease-loss-estimates-from-the-united-states-and-ontario-canada-2021
- Webster, R. W., et al. “Tar Spot Prediction in Corn: The Weather Matters.” Crop Protection Network. cropprotectionnetwork.org/publications/tar-spot-prediction-in-corn-the-weather-matters
- Iowa Nutrient Reduction Strategy. Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, and Iowa State University. www.nutrientstrategy.iastate.edu/
- “Collecting Late Spring Soil Nitrate Test Samples.” Iowa State University Extension and Outreach, Integrated Crop Management. crops.extension.iastate.edu/post/collecting-late-spring-soil-nitrate-test-samples
- Corn Nitrogen Rate Calculator — Maximum Return to Nitrogen (MRTN). Iowa State University and partner land-grant universities. www.cornnratecalc.org/
- Eldeeb, M. A., Dhamu, V. N., Paul, A., Muthukumar, S., and Prasad, S. “Electrochemical Soil Nitrate Sensor for In Situ Real-Time Monitoring.” Micromachines 14(7):1314, 2023. pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10383600/
- Topp, G. C., Davis, J. L., and Annan, A. P. “Electromagnetic Determination of Soil Water Content.” Water Resources Research 16(3):574–582, 1980. doi.org/10.1029/WR016i003p00574
- Sentinel-2 mission overview. European Space Agency, Copernicus programme. sentiwiki.copernicus.eu/web/s2-mission
- MOD13Q1 v6.1 — MODIS/Terra Vegetation Indices 16-Day L3 Global 250 m. NASA Earthdata. www.earthdata.nasa.gov/data/catalog/lpcloud-mod13q1-061
- Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO). USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service. www.nrcs.usda.gov/resources/data-and-reports/soil-survey-geographic-database-ssurgo
- LoRaWAN US902–928 regional parameters. The Things Network documentation. www.thethingsnetwork.org/docs/lorawan/regional-parameters/us915/
- Klein, R. N. “Managing Pesticide Applications to Avoid Drift.” University of Nebraska–Lincoln Extension, CropWatch. cropwatch.unl.edu/managing-pesticide-applications-avoid-drift
- FIPS 180-4, Secure Hash Standard (SHA-256), and FIPS 198-1, The Keyed-Hash Message Authentication Code (HMAC). National Institute of Standards and Technology. csrc.nist.gov/pubs/fips/180-4/upd1/final
TerraVue USA, LLC is an independent company. References to Iowa State University, USDA, and other institutions cite their published work and do not imply endorsement or partnership. Figures are drawn from published research; results on any individual farm will vary.