Short answer: an on-farm weather station measures what is happening at that spot right now and keeps a history; a forecast app estimates what is likely to happen over the next hours and days for a point on a map. A station cannot see tomorrow, and a forecast cannot measure your field. For frost and spray decisions, most farms are planning with a forecast and confirming with a measurement.
What a station measures, and what a forecast is
A station is hardware: sensors on a mast or in the canopy that record temperature, humidity, rainfall, wind and sometimes soil conditions where they are installed. A forecast is the output of weather models for a location, worked out before the weather arrives. Forecast tools differ in which models they use and how they adjust them. Bayer Crop Science's free Spray Forecast tool for Canada, for example, says its wind forecast blends NOAA models with a proprietary algorithm and converts wind from the 10 m model height down to boom height, so its numbers can read lower than other wind forecasts.
What each one is good at:
- Station: the actual temperature, wind and rain at the sensor, with a record you can look back on
- Station: frost and spray history for the season, if the software keeps a log
- Forecast: the next hours and days, so you can line up operators, water and product before the day arrives
- Forecast: coverage anywhere, with no hardware to install, power or maintain
A point on a map is not your field canopy
A forecast describes the air at a model point, not the leaves in a low corner of a quarter section. On clear, calm nights cold air settles into low spots and the crop canopy can be colder than the forecast air temperature. Wind behaves the same way: shelterbelts, hills and the time of day change what you would feel at the boom. Even a forecast built for spraying says so. Bayer's tool states that its forecasts are for planning only and are not a substitute for measuring wind with an anemometer, and tells users to check conditions at the time of application and follow the label.
A station has the opposite limit. It measures one spot very well. If it sits on a hilltop yard, it will not tell you what the coulee field did at 4 a.m., and it says nothing about tomorrow unless the software adds a forecast for the station's position. Crop Intelligence's FarmGate, for example, lists a seven-day forecast for the station's GPS position alongside its current and historical readings.
How often each one updates
Update intervals the vendors publish (checked November 5, 2026):
- METOS North America says its systems provide weather and field data every 5 minutes
- Semios says frost alerts are triggered by in-canopy sensors every ten minutes, by text or email
- Bayer Spray Forecast shows an hourly table and says forecasts are updated throughout the day, without giving a frequency
- AgriIntel scores the next 24 hours in eight three-hour slots and checks each farm's forecast for frost, heat and wind every three hours
Hardware, maintenance and budget
Station-based services are a hardware commitment as well as a software one. METOS North America sells subscription packages that bundle hardware and software with training, warranty, in-field service and upgrades. Semios says its field services team installs and maintains its frost hardware, which on its frost page includes in-canopy sensors and wind machine control for orchards. Crop Intelligence lists FarmGate weather hardware packages and station-health monitoring. None of these three publishes a price on the pages we checked: each asks you to contact sales or a local vendor, so get a written quote that includes installation, the subscription and replacement sensors.
Forecast-only tools have no hardware to buy, and some cost nothing. Bayer's Spray Forecast is free to use in Canada, and Environment and Climate Change Canada's WeatherCAN app is free with forecasts and official alerts. Paid forecast tools add things such as forecasts tied to each of your farms, a spray-planning view or alerts by email.
When to use both
Many operations end up with both, for different jobs:
- Plan the week and the spray day from a forecast, then confirm wind speed and direction at the boom before and during the job
- Use a forecast frost alert as the prompt to check, and a thermometer or station in your coldest field as the answer
- Keep official ECCC alerts switched on regardless; ECCC issues frost advisories, and each alert carries a yellow, orange or red banner for severity, which is a regional alert, not a reading from your field
- Record what you actually measured with each application, not what the forecast said
Where AgriIntel fits, and where it does not
AgriIntel is forecast-only. It gives each farm current conditions and a five-day outlook for the farm's coordinates, a 24-hour spray strip of eight three-hour slots scored on wind, temperature and rain chance, and frost, heat and wind alerts by email when the farm's forecast crosses fixed thresholds. It does not connect to weather stations, does not measure anything on your farm, and forecasts per farm rather than for each field. When you log a spray application you can type in the wind, temperature and humidity you measured, so the record holds your reading rather than the forecast. We have not run an accuracy test against stations and make no accuracy claim.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a weather station to get frost alerts?
Not for forecast-based alerts. WeatherCAN and AgriIntel both work without hardware, from forecasts. A forecast alert tells you frost is likely for a location; it is not a measurement in your field, so a station or thermometer in your coldest spot is what tells you whether it actually happened there.
Can AgriIntel read my weather station?
No. AgriIntel does not connect to weather stations or other hardware. You can type your own readings into a spray record, and the forecast stays a separate, labelled source.
Is a station more accurate than a forecast?
They answer different questions. A well-sited station is the better record of what happened at the sensor; a forecast is the only one of the two that looks ahead. Which is more useful depends on the decision, and no vendor page we reviewed publishes an independent comparison for Canadian farms.
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Last reviewed November 5, 2026. Rules, rates and programme details change; confirm the current position with the source or a qualified adviser before acting.
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