About
Craig McLaren
McLaren Precision Agriculture was founded in 2026 to bring accessible, high-quality crop health data to arable farms across Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and Wiltshire.
Before starting MPA, Craig worked as an engineer building the kind of data systems that now underpin precision agriculture. That technical background, combined with a connection to the farming communities of Hampshire, Berkshire, Oxfordshire, Surrey, and Wiltshire, is what drives MPA: making genuinely useful agronomic data available to farms that have not traditionally had access to it.
MPA is not a drone photography company. The value is in the data — NDVI and NDRE index maps that show exactly where within a field crops are thriving and where they are not, early enough in the season to do something about it.
Equipment
DJI Mavic 3 Multispectral (M3M)
Primary survey platform
Integrated five-band multispectral sensor capturing Green, Red, Red Edge, and Near-Infrared data alongside RGB imagery. Designed for precision agriculture — produces the NDVI and NDRE index maps that form the core of MPA's crop health survey reports.
DJI Mini 4 Pro
Visual inspection and site surveys
High-resolution RGB camera for topographic surveys, site assessments, and visual crop inspection.
MPA detection software
MPA develops its own analysis software in-house. Weed detection runs on a rule-based spectral classification engine built specifically for the M3M's five-band sensor — programmatic, documented, and auditable, rather than a black-box AI model. Craig's background as a software and data systems engineer is what makes this possible: when an off-the-shelf tool does not exist, MPA builds it.
Qualifications & Credentials
MPA's surveys are designed to support both agronomic decision-making and SFI26 scheme compliance. Survey outputs are compatible with the evidence requirements for SFI26 precision farming action PRF1 (variable rate nutrient application), and MPA's weed detection outputs support PRF2 (remote sensor guided herbicide spraying).