Silage bale detection for the «Cultivable Area» update of the Cantonal Agricultural Office, Thurgau

Abstract

In Switzerland direct subsidies are paid to farms for sustainable agricultural practice. The cultivable agricultural area layer (German: Landwirtschaftliche Nutzfläche, LN) serves as an annual basis for the calculation of these contributions at the Swiss cantonal agricultural offices. Material deposits like silage bale stacks are usually excluded from the LN. Therefore, the canton of Thurgau could profit from a spatial vector layer indicating locations and area consumption extent of silage bale stacks intersecting with the LN perimeter.