The forecast covers the region.
Your decision happens in the field.
Environmental, weather, level and condition measurement for agriculture, from crop and irrigation decisions to storage, livestock environments and the machinery that keeps the holding moving.
Margin is decided in a handful of days each year
Farming turns on a small number of short windows. The days you could spray. The days you could travel. The days the crop could come off dry. Miss them and the cost is not simply a delay. It can be the margin on the field.
Those windows are judged against weather, but the weather that matters is on the holding rather than at a station in the next county. A regional forecast can tell you what is expected across an area. It cannot tell you whether the wind at the field edge is inside the limit right now, whether rainfall has reached the ground you are working or how conditions are changing at a particular site.
Gill puts that measurement where the decision happens. Local weather stations capture the conditions at the field, boundary or building. Connected measurement brings environmental data and third-party inputs into the same record. Level sensing provides visibility of stored water and slurry, while machinery condition monitoring can identify developing wear before equipment is needed.
The result is not another forecast. It is a measurement of what is actually happening on the holding, captured where it matters and available when the decision has to be made. Where that measurement needs independent verification, Labcal provides UKAS-accredited calibration for Gill and non-Gill equipment across six measurement parameters.
Agriculture is a chain of decisions, not a single weather reading
A working farm depends on measurements from the field to the machinery shed. Wind speed and direction influence spraying. Solar radiation, temperature, humidity and rainfall contribute to irrigation and crop-risk decisions. Conditions inside grain stores and livestock buildings affect what happens after the crop comes in or while animals are housed. Level matters in water and slurry storage. Machinery condition matters before equipment is needed.
The value comes from bringing those measurements together around the decision they support.
Weather
Wind, temperature, humidity, pressure, solar radiation and rainfall provide the local conditions behind spraying, irrigation and crop management decisions.
Water
Level measurement supports water stores, slurry and other liquid storage where capacity and availability matter to day-to-day operation.
Storage
Temperature and humidity measurement helps monitor the environment inside grain stores and other agricultural buildings.
Machinery
Condition monitoring can provide earlier evidence of developing wear, while position sensing can monitor moving equipment and mechanisms.
Remote sites
Field stations may have no mains supply and limited access. Power consumption, communications and environmental protection therefore become part of the measurement specification.
Evidence
When application records, assurance requirements or operational decisions need to be reviewed, a recorded measurement provides evidence of the conditions rather than relying on memory.
One holding. Multiple measurement points.
A farm is not one measurement environment.
Wind at the field boundary can be different from the regional forecast. Conditions inside a grain store are different from those outside it. Water levels change with use and rainfall. Machinery develops wear while the rest of the operation continues around it.
Spray application and drift
Whether you can spray is a wind decision, and the record of that decision is the thing an inspector or a neighbour asks to see.
- MaxiMet GMX500 wind, temperature, humidity and pressure in one unit
- WindSonic 60 0 to 60 m/s, 0.5 kg, mounts on the sprayer
- MaxiMet GMX200 wind only, 0.5 kg, for a field-edge mast
Field weather station
The farm and the nearest official station are usually tens of kilometres and one valley apart, and the decisions are made on the farm.
- MaxiMet GMX551 wind, T, H, P, solar and rainfall in one housing
- MetConnect THP Pt100 and analogue inputs for soil probes
- MaxiMet GMX550 wind, T, H, P and rainfall without solar
Irrigation scheduling
Irrigating on a timer wastes water and energy. Irrigating on measured evapotranspiration and rainfall does not.
- MaxiMet GMX551 solar, wind, T, H, P and rainfall for the ET calculation
- MaxiMet GMX301 solar radiation only, 0 to 1600 W per square metre
- TruMet PW100 optical rainfall, 0 to 200 mm/hr, no bucket to block
Glasshouse and polytunnel climate
Vents, screens and heating all respond to outside conditions, and a control system acting on yesterday’s assumption costs a crop rather than a day.
- MetConnect THP temperature 0.2 degrees C, humidity 1.5 percent RH
- MaxiMet GMX501 wind, T, H, P and solar for vent and screen control
- Blade position sensors non-contact vent and screen actuator feedback
Grain store and crop storage
Stored grain is a season of work sitting in a shed, and it is lost to temperature and moisture rather than to anything dramatic.
- MetConnect THP temperature and humidity, Pt100 input for probes
- MaxiMet GMX300 temperature, humidity and pressure, no wind
- MaxiMet GMX400 adds rainfall for the outside reference
Livestock housing and ventilation
Housed stock lose condition to heat and humidity before anyone sees a problem, and the ventilation control needs to know what is happening outside.
- MetConnect THP temperature 0.2 degrees C, humidity 1.5 percent RH
- WindMaster 3-axis air-flow measurement for ventilation control
- MaxiMet GMX500 outside reference for the shed control system
Slurry, water and fuel tanks
A slurry store overtopping is a pollution incident with a fine attached, and the level is usually checked by looking.
- LevelSlick FEP coated for viscous and particulate liquids
- LevelPro stainless steel, IP66 and IP68, no moving parts
- DD1615 level display local display at the store
Tractor and machinery condition
A machine goes down in the two weeks of the year it is needed, and the wear that stopped it was in the oil months earlier.
- WearDetect oil debris sensing for ferrous wear particles
- LevelLite fuel and hydraulic level, IP68, voltage or current output
- Blade position sensors non-contact implement and actuator position
Rainfall measurement
Rainfall decides travel, application windows and irrigation, and a gauge that blocks with straw dust stops reporting in harvest.
- TruMet PW100 optical, 0 to 200 mm/hr, 5 percent, no moving parts
- MaxiMet GMX603 integrated optical rainfall, 5 percent or better
- MaxiMet GMX551 rainfall alongside wind, T, H, P and solar
Soil and evapotranspiration
Crop water demand is calculated from solar radiation, temperature, humidity and wind, so the weather station is doing agronomy rather than reporting.
- MaxiMet GMX551 all four ET inputs plus rainfall in one housing
- MetConnect THP four-wire Pt100 to IEC 60751 for soil probes
- MaxiMet GMX301 solar radiation, 0 to 1600 W per square metre
Frost risk and protection
Frost protection runs all night on the strength of a temperature reading, and it costs money whether or not the frost arrives.
- MetConnect THP temperature accuracy 0.2 degrees C, Pt100 input
- MaxiMet GMX400 temperature, humidity, pressure and rainfall
- WindSonic M heated, operating to -40 degrees C
Harvest and drying decisions
Harvest moisture and drying cost are decided against the weather, in a window measured in days, on figures that came from somewhere else.
- MaxiMet GMX551 wind, T, H, P, solar and rainfall on the farm
- MetConnect THP humidity accuracy 1.5 percent RH at 25 degrees C
- MaxiMet GMX603 high-accuracy optical rainfall
Buffer zones and boundaries
Buffer zones and neighbour complaints both come down to wind direction at the time of application, recorded rather than remembered.
- MaxiMet GMX200 wind only, 0.5 kg, for a boundary mast
- WindSonic 60 0 to 360 degrees with no dead band
- MetConnect One logs to SDI-12, Modbus or a farm data platform
Worker conditions and heat
Seasonal labour works long days outdoors and in glasshouses, where air temperature understates what the heat is doing to them.
- MaxiMet GMX552 WBGT heat stress with wind, T, H and P, 1.29 kg, IP66
- MaxiMet GMX500 wind, temperature, humidity and pressure
- MetConnect THP reference temperature and humidity
Remote power and telemetry
A field station has no mains and no daily visit, so the power budget decides whether it is still reporting in February.
- MetConnect THP 5 to 30 V DC, less than 70 mA at 12 V DC
- MaxiMet GMX200 0.5 kg, single supply, minimal draw
- MetConnect One SDI-12 v1.3 into an existing farm logger
Calibration and assurance
Farm assurance schemes and application records are audited, and an instrument nobody has verified is a finding waiting to happen.
- UKAS-accredited air velocity calibration traceable certification for anemometers
- Multi-parameter calibration six parameters, equipment from any manufacturer
- Recalibration scheduling intervals, reminders and turnaround
Find your agricultural application
From a spray window in the field to the condition of machinery in the yard, measurement supports decisions across the holding.
Spraying and application windows
Know the conditions where you are working
Spray decisions depend on local conditions. Wind speed and direction, temperature and humidity can change across a holding and throughout the day, making local measurement more useful than relying solely on regional data.
Gill weather stations provide the environmental measurements needed to establish conditions at the point of application and create a record of what those conditions were.
Engineering: Wind measurement, temperature, humidity, pressure and rainfall.
Irrigation and water management
Measure the conditions behind the decision
Water demand depends on more than rainfall alone. Solar radiation, temperature, humidity and wind all contribute to the environmental picture used when managing irrigation.
MaxiMet combines multiple atmospheric measurements in a single field-ready station, while level sensing provides visibility of stored water where capacity matters to the operation.
Engineering: Weather measurement, rainfall, solar radiation and liquid level.
Grain storage and crop environment
The crop still needs managing after harvest
The conditions inside a grain store can affect the crop long after it has left the field. Temperature and humidity measurement provides visibility of the storage environment rather than relying on conditions outside the building.
Gill environmental measurement can provide the data required for local monitoring and connected systems.
Engineering: Temperature, humidity and environmental monitoring.
Glasshouses and Polytunnels
Control needs the outside conditions
Vents, screens and heating respond to what is happening outside the structure. The outside reference and the actuator feedback both have to keep working through years of humidity and constant cycling.
Engineering: Reference weather measurement, non-contact position feedback, BMS integration.
Livestock environments
Conditions inside the building matter
The environment experienced by livestock is determined inside the building, not by the regional weather forecast. Temperature, humidity and wider environmental conditions can be monitored locally to provide a clearer picture of what is happening where animals are housed.
Engineering: Environmental measurement and connected monitoring.
Machinery condition monitoring
Find the evidence before the failure
Agricultural machinery often has to work when the window opens. A developing mechanical problem discovered during a critical operation is more disruptive than one identified while there is still time to plan an intervention.
WearDetect monitors oil debris, providing evidence of developing wear within lubricated machinery.
Engineering: Continuous oil debris monitoring and condition measurement.
Water, slurry and liquid level
Know what is in the tank
Water and slurry storage are operational assets, and their level changes with use, rainfall and transfer. Gill’s capacitive level technologies provide continuous measurement options without relying on mechanical floats in the measurement path.
Engineering: Capacitive liquid level sensing.
insight
Why the weather station is doing agronomy, not reporting
It is easy to think of a farm weather station as a rain gauge with extras. Its real value is what happens when several measurements are considered together.
Crop water demand, or reference evapotranspiration, is derived from measurements including solar radiation, temperature, humidity and wind. Disease-risk models can use temperature and leaf-wetness information. Spray decisions can depend on wind speed and direction alongside temperature and humidity.
None of those decisions comes from one sensor.
That is why the MaxiMet GMX551 combines wind, temperature, humidity, pressure, solar radiation and rainfall in one station. Where soil probes and other third-party sensors need to become part of the same measurement record, MetConnect provides Pt100 and analogue inputs alongside multiple communication options.
And weather is only one part of the agricultural measurement chain. The same principle extends into liquid level, machinery condition, position feedback and calibration.
Measurement built around the holding
Products and services engineered for farms and growers, spanning compact weather measurement, optical rainfall, level and position sensing, machinery condition monitoring and calibration across Gill.
Meteorological Technology
MaxiMet
Compact all-in-one weather measurement
MaxiMet combines multiple environmental measurements in a single compact station for applications where local conditions matter and access may be limited.
MetConnect
Bring additional sensors into the same record
MetConnect provides a route for combining weather measurement with third-party instruments and additional agricultural sensors.
TruMet PW100
Optical rainfall measurement
A solid-state optical rain gauge providing an alternative to mechanical tipping-bucket measurement.
WindSonic
Lightweight 2-axis ultrasonic anemometer
For sprayer and boundary mounting, where 0.5 kg and no moving parts matter more than a specification sheet.
Industrial Sensors
Level sensing
Capacitive liquid level measurement
For water, slurry and other agricultural liquid storage applications where a float-free approach avoids mechanical components in the measurement path.
WearDetect
Oil debris monitoring
Continuous detection of ferrous debris in lubricating oil provides an indication of developing mechanical wear, helping move the detection point closer to the beginning of a potential machinery problem.
Blade position sensors
Non-contact position measurement
Linear and rotary position sensing for agricultural machinery and mechanisms where position feedback is required without contact between the sensing components.
The nearest station is not your farm
Regional weather data is useful for forecasting, but agricultural decisions often depend on conditions at a particular field, building or boundary.
A weather station installed where the decision takes place captures the local measurement rather than relying on conditions averaged across a wider area.
GMX200: 0.5 kg field station
A remote field station has to work without a visitor
Field equipment can sit at the far end of a holding, away from mains power and routine access. Power consumption, communications, environmental protection and installation therefore matter alongside measurement performance.
MetConnect is designed for low-power connected measurement, with a typical current draw of under 70 mA at 12 V DC.
The record matters as much as the reading
Application records, assurance schemes and operational decisions can all depend on knowing what conditions were present at a particular time.
A recorded measurement creates evidence that can be reviewed later, rather than relying on a remembered forecast or an observation made after the event.
Where independent verification is required, Labcal provides UKAS-accredited calibration for equipment from Gill and other manufacturers.
Measurement only matters when the system can use it
A field station is only the beginning if the data needs to feed another system.
Gill technologies provide communication and analogue interfaces for connected monitoring applications, including RS232, RS422, RS485, Modbus, SDI-12, Pt100 and analogue inputs, depending on the instrument.
MetConnect can bring third-party sensors into the same measurement architecture, providing a route for combining environmental and agricultural data rather than maintaining separate records for every instrument.
Outputs and options
- SDI-12 & Modbus : Farm loggers and irrigation controllers
- CAN & RS232 : Machine and implement systems
- 4-20 mA & 0-10 V : Level into existing controls
- Analogue & Pt100 : Soil probes and third-party sensors
UKAS-accredited calibration for six measurement parameters
Labcal is an independent UKAS-accredited calibration laboratory, Lab 0625, operating to ISO/IEC 17025:2017. It provides calibration across gas and air flow, air velocity, liquid flow, pressure, temperature and humidity, all under one roof.
For agricultural measurement that includes anemometers, Pitot tubes and thermal probes, alongside pressure gauges and transducers, thermometers, temperature and humidity probes and data loggers. Labcal supports equipment from Gill and other manufacturers, which matters on a holding where instruments arrived with different machines across many seasons.
01 · Gas and air flow
Gas meters · Mass flow controllers · Dispensing systems · Low-flow laboratory to higher-flow industrial
02 · Air velocity
Anemometers · Pitot tubes · Thermal probes
03 · Liquid flow
Flow meters and sensors · Process control equipment · Water used for the accredited capability
04 · Pressure
Gauges · Transducers · Manometers · Transmitters
05 · Temperature
Thermometers · Probes · Thermocouples · Data loggers
06 · Humidity
Hygrometers · Probes · Transmitters
Why agricultural operations specify Gill
Local measurement
Measure conditions where the decision takes place rather than relying solely on regional data.
More than weather
Environmental measurement can sit alongside rainfall, level, machinery condition and position sensing across the holding.
Built for remote sites
Compact, low-power technologies support installations where mains power and routine access are limited.
Connected data
Industrial communication and analogue interfaces provide routes into wider monitoring and management systems.
Evidence when it matters
Recorded conditions provide a defensible measurement record for operational decisions and assurance requirements.
Independent calibration
UKAS-accredited calibration is available through Labcal for Gill and non-Gill equipment across six measurement parameters.
Agriculture application notes
1 application page and 2 numbered application notes for this sector. The pages describe the measurement problem and the instruments that answer it; the numbered notes are the original engineering documents, each with its PDF.
Farm measurement questions, from the spray window to the audit
For a full agronomic picture: wind speed and direction, air temperature, relative humidity, barometric pressure, solar radiation and rainfall. The MaxiMet GMX551 carries all six in one housing.
Soil probes and third-party sensors join through MetConnect, which takes a four-wire Pt100 to IEC 60751 and two analogue inputs.
Rarely, on any holding with real topography. Frost sits in hollows, wind differs between an exposed field and a sheltered one, and rainfall varies over surprisingly short distances.
MetConnect runs from 5 to 30 V DC drawing less than 70 mA at 12 V DC. The compact MaxiMet models take a single supply, with the GMX200 at 0.5 kg. Both are practical on a small solar panel and battery.
Either on the sprayer itself or on a mast at the field edge, clear of hedges, buildings and the tractor. A hedge changes wind speed measurably for several times its own height downwind, which is exactly the distance most masts end up from one.
Air temperature at crop height, usually with humidity so dew point can be tracked. MetConnect measures temperature to 0.2 degrees C accuracy and takes a Pt100 probe for a second measuring point.
Because reference evapotranspiration, the standard estimate of crop water demand, is calculated from solar radiation, temperature, humidity and wind together. Without the radiation term you are estimating rather than calculating.
Wind speed and direction at the time of application, recorded. A boundary mast or a sprayer-mounted sensor gives a record rather than a recollection.
Tipping buckets block with straw dust, chaff, leaf litter and insects, and under-read in light rain. The TruMet PW100 measures optically with no moving parts, 0 to 200 mm/hr at 5 percent accuracy and 0.1 mm resolution.
Temperature and humidity inside the store, ideally with probes at several points in the bulk, against an outside reference so aeration is only run when it will help rather than harm.
Temperature, humidity and air movement inside, and outside conditions for the ventilation control to respond to. The WindMaster range is used for ventilation control where air-flow measurement matters.
With a level sensor that has no float to jam. LevelSlick is FEP coated specifically for viscous, particulate liquids, and there are no moving parts in the measurement.
It detects ferrous wear particles in lubricating oil, which appear before the failure and before the noise. On machines that only work for a few weeks a year, that moves the repair out of harvest and into the winter.
As wet bulb globe temperature, which combines air temperature, humidity and radiant heat. The MaxiMet GMX552 measures WBGT alongside wind, temperature, humidity and pressure. It matters most in glasshouses and in field work at height of summer.
Yes, through the protocol the platform or logger accepts. MetConnect outputs SDI-12 v1.3, Modbus in RTU and ASCII, NMEA 0183 and ASCII over RS232, RS422 and RS485. Level sensors offer 4-20 mA and 0-10 V, with RS232 for configuration.
Reference evapotranspiration is calculated, not measured. The standard Penman-Monteith method needs solar radiation, air temperature, relative humidity and wind speed at a known height, all from the same place and the same moment. A station that carries only two of those cannot produce the number, and combining sensors from different locations introduces an error the calculation has no way to declare.
That is why the MaxiMet GMX551 carries wind, temperature, humidity, pressure, solar radiation and rainfall in one housing on one cable. Where soil moisture probes or third-party sensors have to join the same record, MetConnect accepts them through four-wire Pt100 and analogue inputs so the whole calculation comes from one dataset.
Set by the grower and by whatever the measurement supports. Where a reading backs an application record or an assurance scheme, an annual traceable calibration is a sensible interval.
Labcal is UKAS-accredited to ISO/IEC 17025:2017 and calibrates air velocity, temperature, humidity, pressure, and gas and liquid flow.
Six: gas and air flow, air velocity, liquid flow, pressure, temperature and humidity. Labcal is an independent UKAS-accredited laboratory, Lab 0625, and calibrates equipment from any manufacturer, not only equipment supplied by Gill.
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