Scottish Government Selects Planet for Satellite Monitoring of Agricultural Reform

The Scottish Government's Agricultural and Rural Economy Directorate has selected Planet Labs Germany for a one-year, seven-figure contract to provide satellite data and analytics supporting the country's Agricultural Reform Route Map. Secured through Planet reseller Computacenter, the agreement will use Planet's PlanetScope satellite imagery and AI-enabled analysis to help inform Scotland's transition toward more sustainable food production, increase biodiversity, and reduce agricultural carbon emissions.

 

The monitoring capability is intended to give the Scottish Government near-continuous visibility into changing agricultural landscapes, rather than relying solely on periodic manual surveys or self-reported farming data. Jo Gray, programme director of the Agricultural Reform Programme, said the government is working with Planet through 2026 to explore how high-frequency satellite data and analytics could support meeting environmental and climate targets through a more objective, continuous monitoring system, potentially helping track ecological progress and inform future agricultural reform decisions.

 

Read more: Why Climate Resilience Is Becoming a City's Competitive Advantage

 

This contract extends Planet's existing presence across UK government agencies, building on its work with the Welsh Government and England's Rural Payments Agency. That pattern suggests satellite-based agricultural monitoring is becoming an increasingly standard tool across UK administrations managing agricultural policy and environmental compliance, rather than a one-off pilot specific to Scotland.

 

Diego Vanelli, Planet's director of government sales in EMEA, described the Scottish Government's sustainability goals as ambitious and positioned Planet as a foundational data provider for national agencies pursuing large-scale ecological transitions through automated monitoring. Whether the year-long engagement generates evidence robust enough to shape Scotland's agricultural reform policy meaningfully, and whether the partnership extends beyond this initial one-year term, will indicate how central satellite-based monitoring becomes to the country's approach to agricultural sustainability going forward.

 

Source: Planet Labs Germany