Acquiring quality water, and storing it, is especially important in preparing and managing farm productivity. Today, farmers are using data-driven decision making to make the most of water storage in order to lower input costs and reduce risks.

NSW Farmers has identified climate variability and high input costs as key factors in growing farm productivity. Farm businesses need support to build resilience, adapt to change and sustainably manage the farm landscape.

According to NSW Farmers’ regional service manager, Daniel Brear when it comes to water, responsibility is shared between the environment and food and fibre production. “Farmers need reliable access to water to produce a crop year on year, to ensure animal health, and for fire safety,” he says.

The provisions for stock and domestic water are well known and immutable. These provisions also enable responses to fire on the property and in surrounding country.

But farmers need reliable access to water to support the growth and harvest of crops as diverse as citrus, grapes, rice and wheat.

“Irrigation crops need reliability of supply for the farmer to manage water across the year,” Daniel says. “One of the challenges we see is farmers stressed because they aren’t sure they will have enough water for their permanent crops – citrus and grapes and the like.

“Within the irrigation schemes in NSW, irrigators are at the whim of the regulators about what water they can access in any given year. The allocations are announced on July 1 and any change can occur during the year, depending on the season.”

Daniel said long term planning required consistency within that year and in following years, especially when crops need to be rotated and to forecast production.

Sustainable Water on the scene

Sustainable Water Pty. Ltd. was established by Jim Conley, and Ross Martiensen. Passionate about giving back to the land and helping agricultural productivity. They knew abundant water is available when you know where to look, so they began their mission to help rural communities; those who turn water into food and jobs.

To help farms never run out of water again, they researched and activated modern methodologies in underground water exploration and bore-water production. Utilising proprietary geophysical technologies, they locate, and pinpoint high-quality groundwater bore sites, helping hundreds of Australian farmers such as these: 

“I totally recommend Sustainable Water Solutions’ first-class service to anyone needing underground water to drought-proof their properties or just for a reliable water supply.”  – Jim, Qld 

“Sustainable water predicted various water amounts and qualities at various depths using high tech and delivered. Their three NSW customers before me also found great water.”  – Dave, NSW 

The Sustainable Water team analyses each property’s unique characteristics; surfaces, existing water resources, deeper geological water bearing structures, and geophysical data. 

Following water location, driller experience is then necessary. As they play a crucial role, Sustainable Water’s collaborates with qualified and reliable drillers also committed to sustainability. Their expertise aligned with Sustainable Water’s data-driven technology maximises success.

Bringing scientific technology and good old-fashioned hard work to the table, Sustainable Water continues delivering genuine solutions Australia wide. 

For more information contact Co-Founder Jim Conley, M: 0401 218 879 or jim@sustainablewatersolutions.com.au.

Farmbot’s way forward

You can’t be everywhere at once, and in today’s world of high fuel costs and labour shortages, you shouldn’t be, there are solutions that address these challenges. Farmbot is one solution, as a business they work with producers to understand operational costs and challenges. As the adoption of remote water management grows rapidly, so does the desire to incorporate additional elements of remote control. If you don’t need to drive to check the tank, why drive to turn on a pump.  

Andrew Coppin, Farmbot’s CEO, said ‘the company is continuously evolving their product range to improve processes for consistent incremental productivity and financial gains’.

With the launch of Farmbot’s Pump Control it marked a new era of autonomy and control for water management. By enabling the automation of pumps based on water level with a simple click from a phone. A change in management will result in multiple cost savings to a business including, the extended lifespan of pumps, reduced water waste and wear and tear on vehicles, and the obvious countless hours saved. By reducing the need for physical checks on water tanks and pumps, you can redirect resources to more of the 1% tasks. Farmbot’s Pump Control has been praised by customers and is becoming the popular choice for a completely connected water management ecosystem.  

More importantly, primary producers can reap the benefits of these solutions, as the Australian Federal Government aims to support the industry through the On Farm Connectivity Program (OFCP). Eligible producers can access a 50% discount on connectivity and on-farm technology with Farmbot Water Level Monitors and Pump Controllers being popular products of choice. This program is on a first-come, first-served basis, don’t hold off and be the one to miss out. 

For more information contact Farmbot at 02 9030 4760 or go to farmbot.com.au.  

Finding a balance

Daniel Brear says that farmers are concerned about the balance between water for the environment and water usage for food and fibre production.

Challenges include finishing off a winter crop, ensuring sufficient water for permanent crops – grapes, nuts, citrus and other fruit – and being able to plant an irrigated crop, whether that is broadacre cereal or fibre or grown in a more intensive production system, such as peas or potatoes.

“Obviously on farm storage is a huge issue and provides an opportunity for farmers to hold water when they need it,” he says. “We’ve seen in seasons where the allocations were turned off, that the market price to purchase water creates a situation where it isn’t worthwhile to finish crops.

“A zero allocation in July 2019 for people with temporary water on the Murray and Murrumbidgee rivers led irrigators to have to downgrade the potential of their crops to hay,” he says. “That downgrade is tough when farmers want to produce the best crop they can from the water they have available to them.”

Daniel said farmers are using precision agriculture to monitor their water use and to identify new efficiencies that will enable them to balance their productivity and environmental responsibilities.

One example of this was co-irrigating rice crops to benefit wildlife conservation. According to NSW Local Land Services data, up to 1000 Australasian Bitterns benefit from changed agronomic practices among farmers who now grow short season rice varieties.

The Bitterns preference rice crops grown with early permanent water which provides them with a stable breeding habitat and 12.5 times the food source of frogs and tadpoles that support the adult birds and chicks. By the time the chicks are fledged and gone from the nest, it is time to harvest the rice.

“This is one example of how Australian farmers, as world leading irrigators, practice their responsibilities towards the environment, and produce a key food source for people within our country and overseas,” Daniel says.

“Australia’s farmers are focussed on balancing their need for water for production, and to delivering benefits for the environment.”

If you enjoyed reading about ag-tech for water storage, you may like to read about water buybacks in the Murray-Darling Basin.

The post Farmers turning to ag-tech for water storage support appeared first on The Farmer Magazine.

“The tea tree industry is coming under pressure from competition from China, which typically offers adulterated and very impure oils,” says Phil, CEO of Downunder Enterprises and chairman of the Australian Tea Tree Oil Industry Association (ATTIA).  

Thanks to well-established testing, auditing and accreditation systems for tea tree producers and distilleries, the governance – and importantly, data to support it – were there. So a pilot commenced with agtech startup, Geora, to build a digital traceability and certification management tool. Blockchain, a secure and decentralised kind of digital ledger that records and verifies transactions across multiple computers, was once better known for its use in the world of cryptocurrency, but is now applied to a wide range of uses. In this case, it was chosen for its distributed database structure and consensus-based smart ledger approach, which sees transactions coded into immutable ‘blocks’. 

“We have a gatekeeper process, a check system of what quantities of oil can be placed on the blockchain, through to that distillery system verified via Code of Practice audits,” Phil says.

“We were confident as an industry we could implement blockchain once we got the right solution or right tools.”

Yet even as commercialisation progresses, the impetus for blockchain is shifting to validating sustainability credentials through the supply chain. 

“Use of blockchain is going to become a pull, as opposed to a push. It’s the mandate of all companies on their sustainability footprint that’s really going to drive this,” he says. “We’re exploring what types of inputs we’re going to need at an industry level to deliver traceability right through to the manufacturers, so they can meet their legislative requirements and reporting imperatives.”  

Proving green compliance for lending purposes using blockchain went into pilot this year. Queensland-based Leather Cattle Company is adopting blockchain to meet reporting covenants of its NAB Agri Green loan. The aim is a standardised record of environmental impact and steps to reduce emissions, creating a trustworthy record the organic farm can share with interested stakeholders in the beef supply chain. To help, it’s planting 1,200 hectares of the Leucaena legume, shown to reduce emissions intensity of livestock by 20 to 40 per cent across grazing spaces.

“Working with NAB and Geora to track this digitally means we can actually prove the impact of these green projects,” Leather Cattle Company owner, Melinee Leather says.

Like Melinee, Phil wants blockchain to substantiate what the tea tree industry is doing so it can compare with other industries plus competitors globally. 

“If you have the data and technology, then you’re going to have the operating model. But it has to be operated at both the farmer and manufacturer level,” Phil says. “We’ll then get the benefits on adulteration in the slipstream.” 

Making data actionable

Blockchain is one fast-evolving technology with mounting impact on farming. In the field, on water tanks or up in the air are an array of other data collecting technologies like smart sensors, electronic identification tags (eIDs), smart animal collars, drones, satellite mapping, smart spraying cameras and connected farming equipment. 

But while innovation is still occurring in the hardware, it’s software platforms, mobile-based apps, network connectivity, data analysis and modelling, machine learning, as well as sharing and aggregation tools finally making data actionable for farming use cases. These fit into a few buckets, albeit with nuances depending on geography and farming type: productivity; supply chain transparency and product traceability; sustainability/ESG; natural capital reporting; carbon sequestration; and operational management. 

Where Bralca owner and director, Ben Watts, has seen the big shift in the last 12 months is the processing, analysis and machine learning components of harnessing data for timely decision making. Western NSW-based Bralca is a grower and service provider around drone technology. 

“Drones are collecting data processed in a six to 12-hour turnaround, giving us individual plant detail in a cereal, winter or cotton crop. We can run that through analytics on our cloud servers and quickly get a picture of which plants within that paddock are performing and which aren’t,” Ben says.  

Farmers still need ground truth to ascertain whether an issue is moisture versus pests – for now, anyway. “But it means we can, on any given day and at the farmer’s choice, collect data and make an informed decision,” says Ben. “We can take that plan to inspect a paddock, run it through software and turn that into a treatment plan we can load back into an existing machine. That’s where I see technology empowering us as farmers. Data that only gives you more information just gives you a headache.” 

Having data at Broden Holland’s fingertips was the catalyst for an explosion of productivity gains at his family’s Koolpari Enterprises in Young. Yield monitoring in the hopes of spreading variable rates across its mixed crop farm had been underway, but complexity inhibited progress. 

“The thing is how much time and effort you want to spend on trying to map maps and layers,” Broden explains. “I believe everyone has a huge amount of data they could be using. The reason it’s not getting implemented is because the software is too hard and difficult – and not convenient. I want to drive through the paddock and if I’ve forgotten to make that protein map, quickly do it on my phone.” 

Broden began working with Australian-owned CropScanAG on nutrient management app, N-Gauge. “It enables me to make a contoured map with that protein layer. I convert that into a urea map, add strips, plus rates, within a couple of minutes. I can push a button, send it to my John Deere app and it’s in the tractor.” 

Tackling nitrogen has seen Koolpari go from six per cent variation rates to one per cent, generating approximately $1.2 million from better yield over the last three years. “Without that data… our average protein would have been the same, but average yield would have been a tonne less,” Broden says.  

Addressing nitrogen is being followed by incrementally solid gains from tackling sulfur and magnesium levels. It’s also necessary in fungicide trials. 

“In the last three years, we’ve done the same trials we did 20 years ago but have clear-cut decisions now. We know when we spray a fungicide, we’re going to get a good hectare and good year because of what we’ve done with nitrogen. We didn’t see that before because we couldn’t measure it,” Broden says. “You can have all the data in the world. But if it’s not in the palm of your hand when you’re looking at that crop, you go back to your computer and second-guess yourself.” 

Getting your data ducks in order

Most importantly, Broden has learnt the valuable lesson first-mover industry sectors had drilled into them through data and technology investment trial and error: Know your ‘why’ first. 

“The mentality of a lot of people is to grab all this data together, look at a map for 10 hours and still not know what to do. I’m saying let’s look at our issue, the best layer to fix the issue and use it,” says Broden. 

Koolpari’s yields are climbing higher as a result and it averaged a nine-tonne red wheat crop last year. “I’d love to grow a 10-tonne crop. Now I think it’s doable,” he says. “Never would I have thought in my wildest dreams we could grow that much wheat here.” 

Bralca is running workshops with NSW Farmers to help growers share thinking and up their data game. “We can have two successful farmers side by side using very different approaches. If they choose the profit drivers for their business they identify with, that’s obviously what’s keeping them awake at night or what they’re passionate about,” Ben says. 

“This is preferable to spending $20,000 on tech and waiting for it to change my business. It doesn’t work that way. Work the other way back: What is the pain point? What information do I need to help make that decision? What data processing will I need to turn that into something useful?” 

Similar pragmatism lies behind the Landcare Farming Program Benchmarking Soils Project, developed to help landholders establish benchmarks for soil carbon levels and greenhouse gas emissions. Nine participants explored ways to improve carbon sequestration through groundcover and pasture management, while increasing productivity. The project involved FarmLab, CSIRO, Soil Future Consulting and Optisoil. Growers were given an Environmental Farm Assessment tool and trained in remote sensing imagery. 

Participants John and Samantha Stokes, who run the Dorper prime land enterprise north of Tamworth, see better soil fertility and pasture production generating external income streams through ecological monitoring and soil biology consulting. There’s also the chance to add value to red meat products through sustainability accreditation and labelling. Tim and Courtney Skerrett at Mulla Creek, meanwhile, seek to produce sustainable quality beef while increasing soil health and biodiversity. They’re looking to earn income from Australian carbon credits by building carbon stores and biodiversity through a regenerative agriculture approach. 

Maturing data approaches

At WA-based Coolindown Farms, Belinda Lay is increasingly tapping data from Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, eIDs, sheep location devices and temperature collars for risk mitigation and performance enhancement. Paving the way was a co-funded research project with Meat and Livestock Australia using devices and data to generate ROI in a mixed farming enterprise. 

Belinda now runs her own data store to collate historical and current data sets to uncover new data insights and test management theories. Power BI helps visualise data, while a data scientist builds models against different parameters she can manipulate. 

“We compared animal movements with rainfall crop yield and soil moisture to gain insights into different areas. The correlation is only possible if your data is interoperable,” she comments. 

But it had to start somewhere and for Bralca and Coolindown Farms the obvious place was water. Coolindown fitted Waterwatch level sensors to tanks, connected to an app and AxisStream data platform. This resulted in a 70 per cent reduction in inputs and ROI in a year. 

For Belinda, data success is about consistency and context. “If one year you do fleece weight with bellies in and the next year you take the bellies out, you can’t compare your wool production year-on-year because 500g to 1kg of belly is out of your fleece weights. That’s consistency.”

Context requires farmers to start with the end in mind. “For me, it’s a 60kg sheep that’s cutting at least 4.5kg of wool, preferably giving birth to twins and doesn’t need mulesing,” she says. “If that’s what I’m wanting, I’m going to start recording pregnancy scanning data, recording fleece weights, and bodyweight.” 

What’s next?

Biosecurity is the next outcome Bralca is looking for, and Ben is harnessing electronic national vendor declaration (ENVD) using blockchain and the Bioplus application for compliance, easier administration and access to premium markets. 

“Consumers and customers increasingly want to know if there’s validity to the information the farmer signed off. That information we need to collect is the same information that helps us know whether we’re making the right decisions throughout the season,” Ben says. 

Camera spraying and drone technology are additionally giving farmers better tools to manage pests, from weeds to wild pigs. An advancement many look forward to is enhanced satellite imagery to ascertain soil moisture and carbon analysis virtually. 

At an industry level, multiple projects led by government, universities and R&D organisations are striving for ways to aggregate and benchmark data sets to better understand production, seasonal or regional trends, and support imperatives for carbon/ESG reporting and revenue streams. Just take the Federal Government’s Integrated Farm Management program, encompassing carbon and biodiversity through a circular agriculture approach. Or there’s the ‘Know & Show Your Carbon Footprint’ initiative to develop a cross-commodity platform for growers to better understand baseline carbon emissions and residual footprint across their entire enterprise from Agricultural Innovation Australia (AIA). All point to the growing value of data management, ownership and shareability for farmers. 

“The evidence has to be very sound, because we’re basically creating financial products on our farms with the development of soil carbon capture and biodiversity coming along,” adds Phil.

To read more about modern agricultural practices, click here.

The post Farming data: new tech delivers results appeared first on The Farmer Magazine.

Not deterred by a decade of drought, followed by massive bushfires, then a global pandemic, and then floods and a mice plague, crises that would have been more than most businesses could handle, the rural sector is capitalising on two years of rain to plan ahead.

There will be floods, fire and drought, but with good planning and the right infrastructure, they will get through.

The global pandemic has added a few more hurdles such as massive global supply chain disruption causing upheavals in the buying and selling of goods. But this too has helped farmers to plan ahead, as product ordered can take months to arrive instead of weeks. Spur of the moment purchasing decisions for everything from trucks and tractors to silos and technology just doesn’t work. Forward planning is now becoming the name of the game.

La Niña sets the course

For many, heavy rainfall and flooding did setback what was to be a bumper grain and some horticulture crops were spoiled. But, commodity prices are strong, particularly in the livestock sector, and there is plenty of water to store. That has meant – cash in the bank and a chance to look to renewal and repair of important farm infrastructure.

The need for planning is critical as there will be many more challenges on the horizon as we experience more frequent and more severe climate events. The Bureau of Meteorology (BOM) says a La Niña period has set in having become established in the tropical Pacific. This is having a major impact on weather patterns with higher than average rainfall throughout summer of 2021-22. BOM’s climate models indicate La Niña is likely to be maintained until late summer.

According to the BOM, Australia’s temperature and rainfall variability are also influenced by global warming caused by human activities. Australia’s climate has warmed by around 1.44 degrees centigrade for the 1910 – 2019 period. Rainfall across northern Australia during its wet season (October – April) has increased since the late 1990s. In recent decades there has been a trend towards a greater proportion of rainfall from high intensity short duration rainfall events, especially across parts of northern Australia.

In line with those predictions, eastern NSW has already experienced much higher than average rainfall and a very wet summer, the rainfall with the bursts of sunshine has made everything grow. And it doesn’t take an ag scientist to tell you that – all you have to do is look over the fence. Reports of record grain harvests, bumper crops all round are arriving in silos, sheds and warehouses across NSW.

Optimal growing conditions

Kirk Harberger, is the CEO of the family owned and operated Harberger agribusiness which supplies and implements premium equipment and facilities for the farming community. “We are a direct importer of infrastructure with our own building crews.”

While Kirk admits that availability of some materials have slowed down because of the pandemic causing shipping and ocean freight delays, the demand has continued to rise for a wide range of farm infrastructure.

“A large part of our program is almost full for next year on the building side,” he says.

Kirk believes that more and more farmers are planning ahead for their farming needs, in a more competitive and constantly changing domestic and global marketplace. He says many farmers are planning one to two years ahead as they realise that getting the infrastructure and equipment they need cannot be purchased in a short time frame.

“Farmers are very hungry for technology which will help them to be more efficient. It’s the way it has to go.”

Kirk says that the difficulty in getting labour, particularly skilled labour means that farmers are looking for more tools that will allow them to farm with fewer employees.

“Most farmers are happy to pay for good skilled labour. When you think that some equipment, like a header, is very technical and can cost up to $1 million, you don’t want someone who is not skilled driving it into a fence.”

He says that the technology being applied, like automated satellite controlled driverless machinery, Artificial Intelligence software that can help to increase output and maintain product, such as grain monitors, is much sought after.

“There has been a culture of change growing in the farming community that has been needed for some time.”

The timber shortage

Ian MacArthur, of Norwood Products, says that despite the bumper crops across many parts of Australia, a lot of stock such as timber is extremely hard to get.

He says there are even suppliers who are approaching Norwood Products to get product. But part of the reason for the scarcity is, according to Ian, due to the fact that the building industry is going crazily well.

Established in 1992 – Norwood Products is an Australian owned business, providing quality outdoor timber products including morticed timber post and rail fencing, gates, bollards, landscaping timbers supplying individuals and large scale operations such as the building and construction industry.

Norwood supplies to contractors, councils developers, management committees and individual clients. Ian says that that most farmers are aware of the supply constraints and are prepared to be patient.

“If you are building a fence and using a contractor, there can be a 12 month wait,” he says. But despite that, contractors he has spoken to are still taking orders.

Many farms are now replacing fences washed away in recent floods or damaged by the fires in 2020.

Implementing renewables

One of the key areas for infrastructure upgrade is the implementation of renewable energy supply. For many farm operations, the cost of diesel is, alongside labour, a sizable and growing impost. With farmers being one of the first sectors in Australia to embrace emission targets, the adoption of renewable energy such as solar, batteries, wind and hydrogen power is rapidly increasing.

Red Earth Energy Storage Solution is an Australian company, using mostly Australian manufactured equipment to deliver solar powered battery solutions.

Jeremy Whaley, Red Earth’s head of engineering, says farmers increasingly need reliable, scalable energy supply. 

While Jeremy does not dismiss other renewable energy solutions he says that at this time, the sun with constant free energy is the best and most reliable option.

“We have moved exclusively to Lithium Ferro Phosphate batteries and we provide a very modular and scalable solution,” he says.

Working with a farmer to work out exactly what their most efficient mix of power supply needs might be is an important part of Red Earth’s implementation strategy. That way the farmer gets the most cost effective solution but always with an upgrade path and an eye to the future and potential for growth.

“We work with the farmer to find out first what their kilowatt or power requirement would be and secondly what kilowatt hours, or storage, is needed. So, we audit and assess power usage such as how many fridges are on the farm, how many machines need to be powered and then we can work out system size.”

As businesses across the country move to reduce their carbon footprint in order to reduce costs and to comply with growing global demand for low emissions production, more and more farmers are assessing their power needs. 

Supply and demand

Andrew Kotzur of Kotzur says the past two years of good growing conditions means that the Australian agriculture sector is “going gangbusters”, but despite there being more cash available for vital infrastructure upgrades, everyone has been forced to look ahead due to supply issues. “We are all learning to be patient,” Andrew says.

Kotzur Silo is a family owned operation which has manufacturing sites in Walla Walla, near Albury and in Toowoomba, Queensland. The company makes silos of all sizes and is an end-to-end supplier.

Andrew says that there have been some issues with scarcity of materials but he argues that because his company uses almost exclusively Australian product and because the company is a large scale producer, there have been few problems meeting customer demands.

“We have a preference to use Australian made steel where we can. Some of our heavier materials are not made here and we are seeing more imported materials than normal. But, because we are a significant user, we have supply chains in place,” he says.

“Some of the smaller components can be a problem for example, one major component we use in the fans is imported and the factory that supplies had been hit by COVID-19. We had to scramble to find another supplier.”

Andrew explains that there have been some issues with components such as printed circuit boards from Europe, and with delays due to the pandemic, he has had to fly the components out from Germany in order to keep manufacturing on schedule.

Kotzur makes silos up to 12,000 ton capacity. He says demand is now very high due to the good cropping of the past two years.

He predicts there will be several stand out issues in 2022 which have to be solved for the rural and general business community.

“We are all a bit gun shy about making predictions given what has happened over the past few years,” he says. “But clearly labour force optimisation is vital in the effort to provide higher efficiency in farming.”

Andrew says that issues such as pricing and production, changing weather, supply chain management and efficiencies in bulk handling and road efficiency linked to a national heavy vehicle regulation and accreditation are all issues of concern for the coming year.

If you enjoyed this feature on farming infrastructure, you might like our feature on R&D in agriculture.

The post Plan ahead: farmers & infrastructure appeared first on The Farmer Magazine.

On-farm take up of agtech on Australian farms has been slow – partially caused by our poor telecommunications infrastructure – but now more farms and agricultural operations are relying on both ground and sky technology including drones, farming software and remote sensors to keep ahead of the production game.

The sky is not the limit

Drones are one of the most obvious manifestations of agtech and the technology has advanced so rapidly that today’s high-end consumer drone is more capable than a commercial drone of several years ago. 

Bralca is a Central West-based company that provides unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or drone pilots, training and consulting services. It has recently partnered with NSW Farmers and Tocal Ag College to run a series of UAV field workshops to help farmers get to grips with the technology.

According to the company’s founder and agribusiness specialist, Ben Watts, sensor capabilities are constantly improving, and farmers are collecting increasing amounts of data. “A broad trend we’ve noticed in agriculture is that it’s all about collecting data on a landscape scale, that is using interconnected sensors otherwise known as the Internet of Things (IoT). Information such as Elders weather, weaner prices etc. can be obtained from Google by farmers – however what they really want is what’s happening on their farm.

“We can collect very high-resolution crop maps at any stage of the crop’s lifecycle – it’s being done in Western Australia, the USA and parts of NSW – and that technology will be the difference between good yields and good profits or high yield and high costs. 

Farmers are taking almost real time, high-res crop maps, processing the data in the cloud and downloading a shape file to MyJohnDeere within 12 to 24 hours to produce a spray map.”

Ben says UAV technology is now pushing into horticulture and it is “working brilliantly in citrus, vineyards and macadamias. Interestingly it’s often just a few trees in a row so the UAV is saving time, money and pesticides because the grower is not paying for a machine to go up every row for a few trees.”

UAVs are also proving to be a boon for farmers implementing adaptive multi-paddock grazing and other regenerative ag practices. 

“The tasks for most livestock producers are pretty simple,” says Ben. “Check my stock, check my water, check my fences and a good quality consumer drone meets 90 per cent of that need. However, livestock producers at the cutting edge are using thermal cameras on drones to check on the welfare of their stock. And as a side benefit, thermal cameras can find water leaks as they show up as a cool area in summer and a warm area in winter.”

Actionable information

At a more micro level, the MEQ Probe gives meat processors the ability to make objective measurements of the quality of the meat whilst it is being processed. 

MEQ Probe is a new solution that utilises spectral analysis to determine the eating quality of meat on a carcase-by-carcase basis. The technology utilises a blend of physics, chemistry and biology coupled with Machine Learning to provide meat processors with an objective measure for meat quality. MEQ Probe provides real-time information to meat processors which can be shared up the supply chain (distributors, butchers, consumers) and down the supply chain (on-farm growers).

MEQ CEO, Remo Carbone, believes that a key element of the AgTech revolution is that information must be actionable. “If information is actionable, it creates a loop of value. Good information drives better decisions, which in turn drives more information and better decisions. Objective data that can be relied upon is key to providing the proper signals to drive better on-farm outcomes. Supply chain demands for higher transparency, faster information and tighter margins are also pushing this trend. 

“MEQ Probe provides objective IMF data on a carcase-by-carcase basis and this feedback enables farmers to understand their product at an individual lamb and mob level. Their performance informs decision-making on-farm and improves productivity. This data is objective information that, when paired with our newly launched producer portal, will enable better management of their mobs and help to inform breeding plans. Our producer portal brings together not only the MEQ IMF value from the lamb processed, but 

several other data points collected to give a proper overview of the performance of the mob. It also allows the farmer to benchmark their own performance over time and see how they are faring relative to their peers. We expect to do the same as we deploy our probe to the beef industry in 2022.”

Meaningful data

While farmers are getting better at collecting data whether it is from UAVs, paddock sensors, crush side tools or in-field/paddock sensors they are lagging when it comes to using that data in meaningful ways. BlackBoxCo co-founder, Emma Black, puts it this way: “Data is like garbage – it’s useless until you know what you want to do with it”.

Founded by Emma and research vet, Shannon Speight, BlackBoxCo is a cloud computing powered web-based app that uses the latest machine learning and predictive algorithm technology to interrogate an expanding database of animal records and display the results on an interactive dashboard.   

“A lot of producers ranging from family farms to large corporates have been collecting data for years, but they get a bit overwhelmed when they think of trying to do something with that data because they’re thinking of Excel spreadsheets and the like. 

“Our app ingests raw production data from a range of sources including crush side units, Excel spreadsheets, data from feedlots and abattoirs. It then cleans the input and links and analyses fragmented data sets to display a range of metrics on an interactive dashboard that producers can use to drive productive actions.” 

Emma adds that the dashboards have been built with beef industry and producer input specifically to produce the insights the industry needs. “Our aim has been to take away the pain. We take raw production data as well as feedlot and abattoir performance data, analyse and display it all back in a visual chart.” 

Users can set alerts around that data – for example a shift in calving pattern or change in average daily gain (ADG) – so they’re notified as soon as the trend is starting to show. All dashboards are interactive so producers can filter by different data points which vary according to the operation. A breeding operation will focus on metrics such as calving loss and foetal age while a fattening operation will focus on data points around ADG and discounts through the supply chain which meant they didn’t achieve optimum spot on the grid. 

Connectivity issues

While Australian farmers are making strong progress when it comes to adopting agtech, a major factor holding back adoption of the technology is poor telecommunications in rural areas. According to the NSW Farmers Telecommunications Survey conducted earlier this year: 72 per cent of respondents indicated that the quality of their internet service limits their ability to adopt new farm productivity technologies while 55 per cent of respondents are dissatisfied or very dissatisfied with their internet service.  

The majority of respondents rated quality, speed and reliability of their internet service on their property (outside the main residence) as very poor to poor. In addition, the majority have invested in technology such as boosters and aerials to enhance their signal. Of these, 41 per cent have invested in 3G boosters, 58 per cent in 4G boosters, and 74 per cent in external aerials. Over the last two years respondents have spent $90–$15,000 to improve the quality of their service (mobile and/or data) through technology boosting products. 

Over the last 10 years affordable satellite connectivity has improved in both speed, quality and download allowance. This significant improvement is primarily down to huge government investment in NBN satellites.

“Due to the increase in connectivity and smart technology, there is now even greater need for accessible satellite solutions. For example, farmers using agtech to monitor water levels, stock prices and compliance reporting, not to mention normal home internet usage such as streaming and video calling. The message is clear – the need for data is here to stay,” says David Townsend, 

Head of Commercial at IPA Group which includes IPSTAR, ReachNet, and Orion Satellite Systems.

David adds that providers such as IPSTAR are not standing still – they’re constantly providing new offerings and refining the technology available to farmers and their families.

“Delivering connectivity to rural and remote Australians is the core focus of IPSTAR. We understand the challenges farmers and their families face and we are constantly working to provide an experience as similar to that in the city as possible,” notes David. 

“Remote communities across Australia have had a particularly tough three years with drought, fires, floods and COVID-19. Technology can help Australians maximise potential output, whether that be improved crop quality or better pricing at market. But to do this, you need a reliable connection supporting the tech,” David says. 

With the global population set to grow to 3 billion by the end of the century, there is pressure on farming to step up and produce more food. 

“One way to significantly increase efficiency is the application of 21st century technologies. At IPSTAR we are championing this notion, whether that be smart water management, drone crop monitoring or anything that requires internet connection. Essentially, we want to support the government’s mission on the growth of Australia as a global food bowl,” says David.

Sought out solutions

While telecommunications are a major factor when it comes to implementing agtech on Australian farms, companies such as Farmdeck have accepted the reality of Australia’s poor telecommunications infrastructure and have sought to provide solutions that don’t require 3G/4G in the field. Farmdeck provides an all-in-one offering that includes the sensors, the network connectivity and the Farmdeck application available online or downloadable on any Android and iOS devices. 

Farmdeck’s IoT Technology Lead, Luca Palermo, sees three main trends in AgTech: software to replace paper-based note taking and help gather information in one place; sensor technology which enables farmers to remotely track assets whether it’s a water trough, cow, tractor – whether an electric fence is up or down; and satellite sensing which has advanced to the point where it can tell how paddocks are performing and taking detailed measurements of pasture.

“The sensor technology is driven quite simply by time savings. A farmer near Tamworth installed our solution in 2017/18 and he has 17 tanks and about 2,000 head of cattle. It used to take two days to do a trough run. Now he can see it on a dashboard and can track water usage to find problems. Farmdeck manufactures its own sensors – tank, trough and fence etc – so they integrate directly to our software. It’s virtually plug and play.

“Note taking may not sound very important but it is important for new generations who are taking over the farm. They’re very tech savvy, they know how to use a computer and phone and they want to get the information out of dad’s head so they and everyone else who needs it can access it. Once the farm goes electronic it’s easy to go back in time and see if there is a trend or check if something was done and where, and there are big-time savings when it comes to going through paper records.”

When it comes to the barriers affecting agtech take up, Luca cites awareness and connectivity. 

“Agtech is becoming more common, but connectivity is an issue or more correctly connectivity is perceived as a barrier. To solve that problem, we use LoRaWAN – a form of Low power, Wide Area Network which means one station can cover an entire farm, for connectivity to the outside world. If the farm doesn’t have 4G it can use satellite.” 

Energy independence

With farms becoming increasingly reliant on technology, there is a concomitant reliance on electricity, and farmers are looking more and more at the possibilities of energy independence. 

Red Earth Energy are specialists in the field of energy storage, engineering and assembling affordable battery systems to improve sustainability for retail and commercial clients. The company prides itself on being Australian owned and operated with all its products designed and manufactured locally. 

Red Earth Energy CEO, Charles Walker, sees electrification as a major trend in agriculture. “Everything is electrifying, there are electric tractors, trucks, utes, ATVs that are either already available now or coming soon. There is the spread of the Internet of Things which is leading to sensors being everywhere. Even if the sensors themselves are battery powered, the stations receiving the data aren’t.

“By the same token power on the edge of the grid – or on SWIR lines – which most farms are on, is unreliable with the grid delivering inconsistent dirty power that has lots of voltage variation which is bad for equipment. Farmers have solar or see other people that have solar and can see the merging of the two in the future. They’re asking the question: ‘How do I run the farm on solar panels’.”

Charles identifies capital cost as an issue for farmers, but adds that the advantage of solar is that it can run a farm anywhere. “With diesel generators costing $100 or more a day to run, plus the challenges of getting fuel to remote locations, replacing a genset with solar and batteries can pay for itself in as little as four years.

“Another issue is trust. Farmers ask: ‘When it breaks, who is coming to fix it, and how long will it take them to get here, and then how long before it breaks?’ Our systems are remotely monitored and controlled and have a 10-year no questions asked warranty.”

If you enjoyed this feature on agtech in Australia, you might like our feature on biofuels.

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But the most likely origin of hazelnuts consumed in Australia is somewhere far from home – the Black Sea Coast in Turkey to be exact, where 70 per cent of the world’s hazelnut crop comes from. In the year ending June 2020, Australia exported five tonnes of kernel hazelnuts, and one tonne of in-shell hazelnuts, but we imported a whopping 3,496 tonnes of kernel hazelnuts to feed our chocolate habit (most imports are used by mass-market confectioners). 

“There is a significant import replacement opportunity for Australian-grown hazelnuts,” explains Darren Baguley, the NSW Representative for the Hazelnut Growers of Australia.

“Most hazelnuts bought in-shell in Australia are imported from Turkey, a small amount comes from the US, and they are usually a year old. Australian hazelnuts are fresh and of extremely high quality – quality that patisseries, confectioners, hatted restaurants and consumers are all recognising.”

Darren Baguley, the NSW Representative for the Hazelnut Growers of Australia

“There is an even larger potential market for providing quality, fresh Australian hazelnuts to the northern hemisphere in off season – if we can get to scale,” says Darren.

Basil Baldwin’s hazelnut farm near Orange sits above three abandoned goldmines, and in the 20 years since he and his wife Jean established it, he’s seen a significant increase in demand. 

“We have 5,000 trees and this year we harvested close to 20 tonnes. I think the demand for hazelnuts has increased and so the price has also increased. The supply in Australia is very limited, and the imported product is generally inferior. For example, we supply to Scoop Wholefoods here in Orange, and they have our roasted nuts, and they have nuts from Turkey. And the Turkish nuts are rancid; they really are absolutely awful – there’s no other word for it. So there’s a very big opportunity for fresh, Australian-grown kernels.”

A leap ahead for the hazelnut industry

Hazelnut imports grew by more than 60 per cent from 1992 to 2015, so it’s no surprise that businesses have been exploring opportunities to scale up domestic production. In 2016, recognising both the domestic and international demand for hazelnuts, Italian food giant Ferrero – makers of global brands such as Nutella, Ferrero Rocher and Kinder Surprise – established the company Agri Australis in Narranderra in the Riverina region in order to plant and cultivate one million hazelnut trees.

In line with a global business approach to support the development of hazelnut cultivation around the world, including within the Southern Hemisphere, Agri Australis joins Ferrero farms in Chile, Argentina and South Africa that are beginning to supply an additional global harvest from February to March. 

Hazelnuts take seven to 10 years to come into commercial production, so Ferrero had to choose its Australian location well for such a long-term investment. Hazelnuts grow best in temperate areas, and Ferrero identified cultivation should take place between the latitudes of 30 to 45 degrees in the Southern Hemisphere. With its wide range of soils, transport links, access to regional skills and labour, and opportunities to scale up, Narranderra ticked all the boxes. 

“One of the largest confectionery groups in the world growing hazelnuts in Australia has been a massive boon to the industry. Its nursery provides scale if growers are willing to grow the varieties it favours, and it has increased the visibility of the industry at all levels of government,” enthuses Darren. 

Agri Australis’ first commercial yield is expected to be 5,000 tonnes in-shell, representing the majority of the industry’s rapid expansion in the coming years. Though, all Australian hazelnut growers are feeling the exceptional increase in demand. Craig Anderson, a grower from Southern New South Wales, asked that his business not be named as existing demand is so high and his orchard is still recovering from the bushfires. 

“We no longer have to approach potential new customers as we did when we started. Social media and word-of-mouth are enough now. We went from purely selling nuts in-shell, to supplying raw kernel, meal and roast kernels. Each was in response to customer requests.”

A global opportunity 

Between September 2019 and March 2020, Turkey made nearly US$1.65 billion in revenue from hazelnut exports, but growing instances of unseasonal storms, rising temperatures and an invasion of brown marmorated stinkbug are putting Turkey’s, and the world’s, hazelnut supply at significant threat. 

“Because there are very few pests and diseases that affect hazelnuts in Australia, they are easy to grow with minimal chemical use, giving Australian hazelnuts an exceptionally clean and green image,” says Darren. 

“Hazelnuts are a high-value tree crop with growers who are willing to value-add getting prices as high as $30 per kg. Support from the NSW Department of Primary Industries has been quite strong – there is a temperate nuts researcher who looks after hazelnuts, walnuts and chestnuts, and there are several hazelnut research plots in NSW. But Hort Innovation excludes the hazelnut industry body from matched funding on projects because it does not have a statutory levy, though previously it did match funds. The industry would like to see this reinstated.”

The demand for Australian hazelnuts is only going to grow in the decades ahead, and with more than a million hazelnut trees already in production, NSW is primed to lead the industry to a sweet future.

Can Australia make its own chocolate?

A report from 2019 revealed that Australians consume 32kg of chocolate per person per year, and there’s little doubt there would have been quite a bump in the past 12 months as so many of us reached for ‘comfort food’ during the ongoing pandemic. 

There are many chocolate manufacturers in Australia, but very few that can claim to be producing Australian single-origin chocolate. While hazelnuts are a significant part of the chocolate-making process, there is one ingredient that is even more vital – cocoa. 

Cocoa only grows in latitudes 10 to 18 degrees north and south of the equator, so while Pacific neighbours like the Solomon Islands and Vanuatu have the perfect conditions, NSW doesn’t make the cut right now (though trials of controlled temperature cropping and cooler climate breeding programs could change that in the future). 

The best production potential for cacao in Australia is northern QLD, and parts of the Northern Territory and Western Australia. Since 2010, Daintree Estates at Mossman in northern QLD is one of a handful of companies in the world that covers the entire chocolate supply chain – growing, harvesting, processing and marketing its own product range. Working with three different farmers in the tropical Daintree region, the business focuses on sustainability and using Australian sugar and ingredients to ensure the chocolate is single-origin and truly ‘local’.

Another QLD producer, Charley’s Chocolate Factory in Mission Beach, had its Mount Edna cocoa chocolate awarded as one of the 18 finest in the world in 2017 at the international Cocoa Of Excellence program in Paris – often described as the ‘cocoa Olympics’. Whether Australia has the ability to grow its own flourishing ‘tree to bar’ chocolate industry at scale remains to be seen, but with global confectioners turning their eyes to Australian hazelnuts, the potential for our own Willy Wonka empire to emerge from locally-grown products feels closer than ever.

If you enjoyed this feature on the hazelnut industry, you might like our story on NSW’s sugarcane industry.

The post Cracking open the hazelnut industry appeared first on The Farmer Magazine.

In addition to long-standing safety measures related to avoiding powerlines, fatigue management and grain transport, grain farmers will need COVID-safe plans to reduce the risk of transmission and manage the movement of workers and contractors.

To assist farmers in NSW, NSW Farmers and Safework NSW are hosting a two-part Harvest Ready webinar on 28 and 29 September from 6 to 7pm.

Experts from Essential Energy and Transport NSW will also headline as guest speakers on topics like machinery preparation and safety, assessing risks, business obligations for workers, managing fatigue and oversized vehicles.

“The adoption of a COVID-safe harvest plan will be a new safety measure for many grain growers,” said NSW Farmers Farm Safety Advisor Charles Laverty.

“There is a lot to think about such as managing the car pooling of workers to the farm, segregating workers and bring contractors onto the farm.”

NSW Farmers Farm Safety Advisor Charles Laverty

“The second webinar will be focusing on discussion around harvest during a COVID-19 outbreak with speakers from NSW DPI, NSW Health and SafeWork NSW. Topics that will be covered include COVID mitigation measures, steps to become a COVID-safe workplace and cross border restrictions.”

The first Harvest Ready webinar on September 28 will cover the following topics.
Register here.

• Machinery preparation and safety

• Worker’s induction

• Risk assessment prior to harvest

• Fatigue management

• Rules around movement of oversized vehicles

A second webinar will be on 29 September, from 6-7pm and will cover the following topics. Register here.

• COVID mitigation measures

• Steps to become a COVID-safe workplace

• COVID related restriction of movements

• Cross border restrictions

• Case management and business continuity in the event of a COVID-19 case

Farm safety for Farmers

The Farm Safety Advisory Program (FSAP) has been a project that NSW Farmers has been advocating the need for many years to support farming businesses in NSW to work safer and more efficiently.

Although Agriculture employs 2.5 per cent of workers in NSW it accounts for around 20 per cent of workplace fatalities. 

Development of a pilot program began in 2018 which ran in late 2019 to June 2020.

The pilot program showed that there is demand from farmers for a program to assist them to develop, implement and/or improve on effective WHS strategies, policies and procedures. For over 70 per cent of participants in the Pilot Program, engaging with the farm safety advisor was the first time they had accessed WHS advice relevant to their businesses.

The FSAP is fully funded by state government through SafeWork NSW to a total of $2 million until the end of June 2025.

NSW Farmers President James Jackson said working life on the farmer does include a diverse range of safety risk factors.

“Farming is a rewarding but potentially dangerous occupation, and the more we talk and learn how to manage the risks and dangers, the better,” Mr Jackson said.

“The Farm Safety Advisory Program is a winner for me and other farmers in achieving this. It is done on your own farm and tailored specifically to your farm business operations.”

NSW Farmers President James Jackson

For more information and to register your interest in the program call NSW Farmers on 1300 764 000 or email nswfarmsafety@nswfarmers.org.au

If you enjoyed this story on farm safety, you might like our story on quad bikes and roll bars.

The post Prepare for a COVID-safe harvest appeared first on The Farmer Magazine.

At the moment, the collection is not officially open to the general public as Tom is too busy to manage a public museum. However he does hope to open it in the next few years – perhaps when he retires from his business, Rural Wrecking Co. 

Although, given the chance Tom enjoys taking people for a wander amongst the various tractors and he often has visitors from all backgrounds, and many from private car and vintage machinery clubs. 

“Some days we have 10 or 15 visitors but other days it might be only two. When we have the clubs visit, there might be 30 or 40 people here,” says Tom. 

His tractors are from all over the world and the same can be said for his visitors: Belgium, Germany, America and New Zealand citizens have all made the trip way out to Inverell to discover the hidden gems that are parked on Tom’s property. 

“We used to have a lot of people on working visas drop in and have a look around. Not so much this year due to COVID, but they usually come here while they’re working the harvest,” he explains. “They see my collection online and they turn up wearing their clogs and have a look around,” he says with a laugh. “They’re always impressed.”

History in the making

Tom hasn’t always lived in Inverell. His Dad kicked him off the family farm when he was a young man and told him to get a trade. As Tom sees it, it’s the best thing his father ever did for him. 

He completed an apprenticeship with a local International dealer in the 70s, and so it’s no surprise that to this day Tom’s favourite tractors are the older International models. 

As a diesel mechanic he worked in Queensland mines and eventually moved to Port Macquarie with his wife. But the farm, which has been in the family for almost four generations, was where Tom started building up his business and his collection of tractors. 

Tom’s future museum all began with his grandfather’s tractor – an American Hart Parr made in Charles City, Iowa, which is now basically a part of the family. However, a close runner for favourites is his 8-16 1914 Mogul, which is incredibly rare, not to mention cool. 

“Between 1910 and 1920, there was a limited number of tractors around as most tractors were made overseas. International McCormick made Moguls and Titans, and I am proud to say that I have a few of both types,” he says. 

“I actually never had any intention of doing this – my collection has naturally evolved over the years and I found a lot of old tractors by doing field service as a mechanic.

“I have to say – often people are in shock when they first lay eyes on what’s inside my sheds, and they ask – ‘Where in the world did you get all of this?’” 

“There are some rusty looking tractors here – some of them have been restored mechanically but we don’t paint them. We like to keep them in their working clothes.”

The most expensive tractors in Tom’s collection are the Flaming-4-Titan and the 1956 50-D-David Brown. Although Tom admits it’s hard to put a figure on a tractor as sometimes it’s only worth what someone is willing to pay for it. 

The coveted collection is also home to a variety of brands: Lanz Bulldog, Chamberlain, Case, The Grey Ferguson, John Deere and International, to name a few. “There are some unusual little tractors here that most people haven’t seen before,” Tom says.

“People think little or they think big, but they don’t often think in between. Tractors come in all shapes and sizes.” 

Out with the new in this tractor collection

As a part of Tom’s wrecking business, he often deals with late-model tractors. 

“They’re very expensive,” he says. “Some of the new tractors that we wreck are only four or five years old. The owners can’t sort out the electronics or they have huge transmission failures that cost a fortune, and it just doesn’t make sense to keep them.

“If you service machinery properly, it will look after you and last longer. Old tractors like that. Sometimes I find when it comes to modern technology, it doesn’t matter how well you service something, it can still fail – especially when it comes to electronics or hydraulics. They’re so complicated. Older machinery is always simpler, and simplicity usually means reliability.”

Tom lives and breathes his work, and he says the best part of his lifestyle is the people he meets who love exploring his ever-growing collection. “Most of the people who are interested in what we do are generally great people with a similar passion to mine,” he says.

If you enjoyed this story on Horwood’s tractor collection, you might like our feature on the history of tractors in Australia.

The post The tractor farm – a collection to impress appeared first on The Farmer Magazine.

John, who leads projects in viticulture, dairy and broadacre crops, such as cotton, grain and rice, says farmers have already improved productivity by adopting ways to more precisely measure what their crops need and apply water at the optimum timing.

The next step is to automate those systems for even greater improvements.

“No matter what irrigation industry you’re in, if you’re going to be here for the long term, you’re going to need to be very efficient and very productive around how you use your water,” John says. “That’s obviously a big driver for automation, as well as making sure that you’ve got a competitive advantage over others who may be looking to use that water.”

John says automation in surface irrigation systems, particularly in cotton and rice, has really taken off in the past few years, and a significant number of farmers are on the verge of adopting it at scale.

The benefits are multiple: as well as saving water and boosting yields, automation delivers equally valuable time and labour savings, more accurate measurements, and eliminates the 3am wake-up call to manually change over irrigation gates or start siphons and pumps.

“They’re the big drivers for it,” he says. “You’re also starting to see the next generation of young farmers come through who are a lot more tech savvy, and more interested in the potential of automation to give them a higher quality lifestyle and attract people to the industry. If you’re using the latest technology, that’s a big drawcard.”

Tim Kemp

The rice industry in particular has focused on improving how efficiently it uses water, encouraging major changes in management practices. In the past 20 years, average rice yields have more than doubled to 11-12t/ha – reaching up to 15t/ha – at the same time as cutting water consumption by about 60 per cent.

Looking ahead and being smart

AgriFutures Australia, which manages the rice industry’s research, development and extension programs, has set a target of further improving water productivity by 75 per cent over the next five years.

Rice Extension co-ordinator Troy Mauger says the switch from aerial sowing of ponded rice to drill sowing reduces water use by 1.5-2 megalitres per hectare, or 10-20 per cent, depending on soil type. Delaying permanent application of water can save another 1ML/ha. 

Plant breeders are also working on shorter season varieties that use less water, and allow double cropping with winter grain crops.

One thing that hasn’t changed is the requirement for rice to be ponded, with 25cm or more of water, during the two- to three-week microspore period, to protect the panicle from cold that can reduce yield.

Troy says most growers use drop boards to raise and lower the water level on each bay and marker pegs or floats to indicate water depth.

“It’s all pretty manual. If we can automate the control structures for each bay to maintain the water level, it’s a labour saving, and it helps with water use efficiency because you don’t have excess water to drain.”

Troy Mauger

John says current research is now focused on linking smart sensing, forecasts and automation systems. Sensors within a field or orchard can measure variables such as soil moisture level, temperature, crop water uptake and plant growth, and feed that data back to a central point where it’s analysed along with satellite images to automatically control irrigation.

“Within the research we’re doing at the moment, the seven-day forecast is getting very, very good,” says.

“Potentially there will be the opportunity to run things in a fully autonomous fashion. We’ve already got trials where we’re doing that on broadacre irrigation systems. But those systems will always communicate back to the farmer what decisions they’re planning to make, and if the farmer wants to intervene then they have the ability to do so.”

Deakin University irrigation researcher Dr John Hornbuckle

Putting irrigation to the test in Peats Ridge

Tim Kemp has introduced an automated irrigation system to his orchard at Peats Ridge, west of Gosford. Tim and his wife Elise grow avocados and citrus on almost half of the 48ha farm that has been in the family since the 1920s. Unlike some fruit growers who started with flood irrigation – using gravity to propel water along the rows – the Kemps have always piped water from their dams, which collect rainwater and runoff.

“We’ve been irrigating since power came to the mountain back in the 1930s and 1940s, and got more and more efficient as time went on,” Tim says. “The irrigation here has only ever been supplemental, but the problem is if you don’t have it you’re not viable because of the soil types. It’s a sandy loam and some of it is quite sandy, so it dries out very quickly. We might get a rainfall event and then, especially in the summertime, we’ll be irrigating again two or three days later.”

During the 1980s, Tim’s father Robert put mains and sub-mains underground, and went from travelling irrigators and overhead sprays to under-tree micro sprinklers. Tim has since upgraded to pressure compensated sprinklers under the avocado trees and dual drip lines under the citrus.

Since 2008 Tim has used soil moisture monitors, feeding information back to the computer every 10 minutes, to guide decisions about irrigation scheduling, which he prefers to do himself.

“It took a while to learn to trust it,” he says. “Especially because we went from a fairly old system, where you had to go around and manually turn taps on and then turn the pump on and then turn the pump off and turn other blocks on. That’s one of the reasons why I still don’t use the moisture monitors to schedule the irrigation. I just like to have that control, because moisture monitors don’t take into account the weather forecast or anything like that. Also, avocados are very water sensitive, so you’ve got to be particularly careful with them.”

Tim Kemp

Even so, Tim estimates the time saving has been huge. Whereas 20 per cent of his week was spent on irrigation, that’s down to about 2 per cent now. And the water savings have allowed the Kemps to expand the area planted to fruit trees without increasing the total volume of water they use. 

There’s also the added bonus of being able to log in through TeamViewer and control the irrigation system from anywhere in the world. 

“It’s all connected to the internet, so I can schedule from wherever I like,” he says. “A few years ago we were lucky enough to go to the US, and I was putting the irrigation on from San Francisco Bay. That was pretty handy.” 

Tim is keen to see what new technology becomes available, but says lack of access to the mobile network limits what they can use.

The current AquaLink system uses line-of-sight radio telemetry to communicate between the four field stations and the base station at the house. 

“We have quite a lot of bush and it’s a bit up and down here, so you’ve got to be careful where you put the stations,” he says. “A lot of the new stuff is controlled by the cloud and different mobile set-ups, and if you don’t have a mobile signal, the system doesn’t run. That’s a real hindrance at the moment. I can’t use any of that stuff.”

If you’re interested in the future of farming, you might like to read this article on smart farms.

The post The irrigation issue: every drop counts appeared first on The Farmer Magazine.

Science fiction writer, William Gibson once said – “the future is here, it’s just not evenly distributed”. And in some industries, such as mining, this is absolutely true. For large mining companies such as BHP, Rio Tinto and Fortescue, the age of the IoT is already here. It has also arrived in some pockets of agriculture, particularly horticulture, but agriculture’s adoption of the technology is generally lagging behind other industries. 

It is partly to address the slow take up of agtech and the IoT, that the NSW Government is running Farms of the Future, a pilot program on three farms around regional NSW. The program is designed to showcase the benefits and opportunities agricultural technology (agtech) and the IoT can deliver for drought resilience, improved productivity and enhanced water security.

Led by the NSW DPI, the Farms of the Future pilot has installed a range of commercially available connectivity solutions and field sensor technology on three properties to test and demonstrate the benefits that can be delivered to farming via agtech and IoT.

The three pilot farms – all family farms situated in Blayney, Narromine and Coonamble – cover the diverse climate, topography and a range of farming practices that characterise regional NSW, including dryland cropping, irrigation, livestock farming and viticulture.

Agtech installed across the three pilot properties include water monitoring for stock, irrigation management, soil moisture monitoring, weather and crop-data collection, cattle monitoring, stock tracking, general farm communications, security monitoring and farm safety management. 

To determine how to best address on-farm connectivity challenges, the pilot is using a mix of connectivity options depending on the sensor and coverage needs of each farm, including: farm-wide Wi-Fi; mobile 3/4G; satellite; and narrowband connectivity that does not require large bandwidth and complements existing services.

According to NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW, John Barilaro, “we are helping to develop technology that can help farmers boost their productivity and profits by giving them access to real-time, accurate data to monitor livestock, crop health, staff on-site, and water levels, which all contributes to the success of a farm’s business. 

“Through this pilot, we are testing commercially available technology including soil moisture sensors, water tank monitors, weather and crop sensors, in-paddock livestock weighing scales and stock tracking collars. We are also working with farmers, technology providers and local connectivity network providers to understand how we can best help farmers to take advantage of available technology.”

NSW Deputy Premier and Minister for Regional NSW, John Barilaro.

Some of the technologies that the IoT and the latest agtech is leveraging – such as RFID ear tags for livestock – have been around for decades, but the issues each wave of technology is trying to solve, remains the same. 

According to Allflex Australia’s Marketing Manager Kirstyn McKay, the problems Allflex technology can solve for the producer are: reducing human error with recording of information and decision making; data recording and analysis; inefficient stock management and genetic and transferable livestock disease; on-farm labour constraints and helping reduce management fatigue amongst producers.

While demonstration farms are a useful education tool, most farmers implementing agtech will do so incrementally. 

Agriwebb Co-Founder, John Fargher, cautions “that many smart farm projects come in at a level that’s too high, and farmers can form the perception that the ‘smart farm’ is something that’s testing out new technologies or technologies that could be available in the future.” 

Agriwebb is a map-based farm management software platform, focusing specifically on livestock and mixed farming enterprises. It provides day to day record keeping with a mobile app that effectively replaces a pencil and paper notebook.  

“Often, when people think of a smart farm, they think of IoT technology, which is almost futuristic. That investment will need to happen, but agriculture is the least digitised industry in the world, and it is really difficult to digitise information that is in someone’s head or in a notebook or diary. There’s a big gap between what people are doing on farm today and what’s perceived as a smart farm and that is in a way a barrier to adoption of the technology.”

Agriwebb Co-Founder, John Fargher.

McKay argues that the “barriers that producers may face on the ground when implementing these sorts of technologies include familiarity, or lack of, with technology and the cost of equipment in comparison to their budget. Producers need to use the technology to its full capacity to see the results, but it takes time and training to implement and gain experience with the technology.”

Effective on-ground education is going to be extremely important to close the gap between what is ultimately possible and proven technologies farmers can start using right now. Fargher points to water monitoring as a great example of a clear return on investment. 

“Checking stock watering points manually is an expensive process, particularly in the summer months, and that technology has evolved really quickly, and it doesn’t always require internet connectivity, or mobile phone reception. Although alternatives to 3G/4G have traditionally been cost prohibitive, the gap is closing. There’s a huge opportunity to bring that in as first a step along the road to what people think of as the ‘smart farm’”. 

Agriwebb Co-Founder, John Fargher.

For farmers who have progressed further along the journey towards the ‘smart farm’, when dealing with the avalanche of data that is called ‘Big Data’ produced by agtech systems, things quickly become difficult. But as industries that are further developed have discovered, the task of aggregating, managing and interpreting the data is a challenge that must be met to fully realise the potential of the smart farm.

One company that is seeking to help farmers meet that challenge is Pairtree, founded by fifth generation Central NSW farmer, Hamish Munro. 

“There are a lot of good experts out there doing tank telemetry, soil probes, weather stations or the whole connectivity piece really well,” he says. “So the real issue now and into the future – as running a farm becomes more technology dependent – is developing farmer friendly ways to look at the data that all those systems generate and doing something useful with it.”

Hamish explains that Pairtree is currently able to connect to 80 plus paired partners across the digital ag and agtech space within Australia. It takes the data from those partners, normalises it and makes it available in a meaningful way. 

By presenting information in the Pairtree universal dashboard, the app complements and aligns the various data feeds. For example, a farmer will be able to look at the one dashboard and see how much water is in the farm’s tanks, even if those tanks use different apps, what the cattle and sheep markets are doing, and what soil moisture levels are in different fields.

Farmdeck: agtech solution from a provider

Despite the increasing number of IoT products available to Australian farmers, no Australian company is offering a comprehensive farm management solution. 

AgTech companies either provide the sensors, the network, or the farm management software, but none of them provides all three.

This is a challenge Marco Delgado, Farmdeck founder and CEO, discovered in 2016 when he purchased a farm in Bathurst, NSW. Also founder and CEO of a technology company since 2006, he saw an opportunity to create an affordable yet powerful comprehensive IoT farm management solution.

“Having the expertise to take farmers through all the phases of an agriculture IoT project allows Farmdeck to offer tailored solutions as well as direct support in case of problems with any of the components. Having a single platform – single provider is a huge advantage for farmers. It makes the whole process so much simpler.”

Farmdeck Founder, Marco Delgado.

Although Farmdeck sells its own sensors, its farm management platform is still compatible with most sensors already used on Australian farms. 

Farmdeck includes IoT features like water levels management, removing the need for a daily water run. It also offers rollover alerts if quad bike turns over, increasing safety on the farm. Other features offered are electric fence monitoring – which gives continuous visibility on the voltage of fences and sends alerts if it drops below a certain threshold – reducing the loss of livestock, and spraying conditions which use a weather station
and Delta-T to make recommendations.

“One of the differentiators for Farmdeck is that our basic monthly subscription already includes a lot of bonus features that don’t require any IoT investment and that we give away for free. For example, using satellite imaging, we’re able to provide NDVI information to our customers and estimate how much pasture they have left on their paddocks.”

Farmdeck Founder, Marco Delgado.

For more information, email: sales@farmdeck.com, or visit Farmdeck.

If you enjoyed this feature on smart farms, you might like to read our story on farming trends of 2021.

The post Smart farms of the future appeared first on The Farmer Magazine.

It’s the event of the year for the town of Wombat, 15 kilometres south of Young in the South West Slopes region and it draws tractor enthusiasts from all over south eastern NSW.

This year, 2021, there was a fear that the pandemic would mean the event would not go ahead, but an all clear was given by the council in the nick of time. 

For Chris, who currently has more than 100 vintage tractors on his block, it is always a chance to show off the best Australian built machines and to provide a walk-through of the history of local and imported tractors.

“We have Chamberlains, AW6s, Internationals and well over 100 other tractors,” he said.

“The Chamberlain Super 90, which is an Australian made tractor from the early 1950s, is still our best pulling tractor. Up against some of the modern tractors of its own size, it goes pretty well.”

Tractor collector Chris Holmes.

Chris says that he buys his tractor exhibits from farmers around the country where many an historic gem can be found rusting away and forgotten in farm sheds.

“We just started out with a couple of tractors we were trying to get parts for and it grew from there. We are always looking for more,” he says.

Tractor talk

The oldest tractor in Chris’s collection is a 1920s Ford and a McCormick-Deering. He explains that these tractors have now entered the antique market and that over the years there has been a lot of trade internationally in vintage machines. In fact, he gets people coming from all over the world just to look at his tractor collection.

Last year a tractor made in 1912 by Melbourne company, A.H. McDonald, sold for more than $400,000 at an auction in the US. 

The Imperial EB model internal-combustion tractor is a two-cylinder, 20 horsepower machine and state of the art in its day.

A. H. McDonald was Australia’s first tractor manufacturer, starting production in 1908. There were numerous others as the delivery of tractors and other farm machinery from England was expensive and took many months.

Most Australian tractor brands, like Chamberlain, were bought up by large US and European manufacturers. Chamberlain was purchased by John Deere in 1970.

But the traditional source for machinery including tractors was England, and the first internal combustion tractors to be sold in Australia were English Ivels which arrived in 1903. 

Twelve months ago, auction house Donington sold more than 100 restored vintage tractors.

Donington Director, Cameron Sabine says, “We sold everything and at good prices too. All of the tractors came from a single collector and most were in good running order. While some of the tractors went overseas, a vast majority went to collectors in New South Wales and Victoria.”

Cameron says his background is in classic cars, however, the wide interest in tractors meant that he would be running more auctions for vintage farm machinery in the future. “There are definitely a lot of people interested in tractors,” he says.

A silver lining in tractor town

While COVID-19 almost derailed the Wombat Australia Day Tractor Pulling Competition, 2020 had something of a silver lining for the tractor and farm machinery industry. 

According to Gary Northover, Executive Director of Tractor and Machinery Association of Australia (TMA), a record number of tractors were sold in 2020 to farmers taking the opportunity to capitalise on the wet and the optimal growing, planting and general farm maintenance weather.

The addition of the federal government’s Instant Asset Write Off Scheme made it a perfect time to buy. The Asset Write Off provided a much needed boost to both farm machinery sales organisation and farmers.

Essentially the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) allowed eligible businesses to claim an immediate deduction for the business portion of the cost of an asset in the year the asset is first used or installed ready for use.

Claims of up to $150,000 for each asset are allowed and businesses can claim multiple assets, such as new or used farm equipment, utes, tractors etc, with the proviso being that the cost of each individual asset must be less than $150,000. 

This allowance is available for assets bought before 30 June, 2020 and first used or installed ready for use between 12 March 2020 until 30 June 2021.

“2020 didn’t start out well for tractor people, but then the instant asset write off and the rain helped to make it the best year.”

Gary Northover, Executive Director of Tractor and Machinery Association of Australia (TMA).

He says the major growth sector has been in the smaller acreage and the development of the ‘leisure market’ for tractors and farm machinery.

“The broadacre farmer is a steady end of the market. The growth is in the 60 horsepower sector which is expanding each year. They are the lifestyle, hobby, vineyard and orchardist farmers, not the big end in terms of land holdings. This market also includes councils and private use.” 

Overall Gary says this group constituted the majority of tractor buyers in 2020, and he says NSW farmers were the major buyers with sales up 84 per cent on the same period in the previous year. 

He says that Australia has always had a role in the tractor and farm machinery industry and although the days when tractors were made in Australia are long gone, local input to research and development for future tractors is driving the global manufacturing innovation.

“We’ve been working with the Department of Environment looking into emissions and we are now looking at product too,” Gary says. “Over time there will be an evolution with electric tractors coming on to the market for some early adopters who are always going to be there.”

There are already a number of electric engine battery powered tractors on the market and hydrogen fuel cell drive train tractors are beginning to emerge as hydrogen fuel sources becomes more available.

However no matter how shiny, slick and fancy the new breed of tractors might be, it seems there will always be a special place in the market for tractors of yesteryear.

If you enjoyed this feature on Australian tractors, you might like our story on seed singulation.

The post A short history of Australian tractors appeared first on The Farmer Magazine.