Evaluation of on-farm sensing devices using mobile technology

Summary

Stanbroke completed a trial of two types of on-farm sensing devices to develop a business case and determine the wider industry benefit to producers looking to install similar technology. As the Australian red meat industry battles with increasing costs with labour in the top three costs in any business, this project shows that remote sensing technology does reduce the time spent manually checking water points. The project will evaluate how mobile technology can be used to increase efficiencies, reduce labour and enhance on-farm safety. The outcomes of the project will be used to demonstrate to the red meat industry how connectivity can be used to benefit productivity and safety.

Objectives

The overall objective of this project is to utilise mobile technology to increase efficiencies, by reducing labour and enhancing on-farm safety, to demonstrate to the Stanbroke agribusiness and justify the benefits of connectivity, paving the way for potentially larger connectivity projects.

The specific objectives are:
• To demonstrate the application of mobile technology to collect, transmit and store data from remote farm locations specifically to monitor and manage watering points.
• To evaluate farm sensing equipment over a series of trials to determine the accuracy, reliability and robustness across two properties and range of scenarios.

Key findings

There were initially sixteen sensing devices tested over two locations using a mixture of connection types (satellite and cellular). The estimated savings to the business were calculated using the decreased distanced travelled by the bore runner multiplied by the labour and vehicle expense of manually checking the waters. A key finding of this project is the validation that every watering point is different therefore requiring a different monitoring system. Aside from a choice in sensing technology, the type of watering point is also a consideration with many different natural and man-made livestock watering solutions requiring specific attention. At the conclusion of the project the wider industry benefit has been realised after being evaluated at large scale. . The assessment undertaken as part of interim business case has demonstrated that Stanbroke has seen up to a 60% reduction in the need to manually check watering points which allows better use of the highly skilled staff members’ time.

Benefits to industry

At the conclusion of the project the wider industry benefit has been realised after being evaluated over several commercial scenarios at large scale. On-farm sensing devices can have immediate improvements on multiple factors including improved labour allocation, decreased monitoring costs, new ability to prioritise repairs and maintenance, improved decision making, improved confidence in water security, access to previously unknown information (such as micro-climate rainfall) and improved visibility for property stakeholders.

MLA action

Outcomes of the project have demonstrated the feasibility of sensors to support the deployment of Digital AG IoT systems and also inform future strategic pathways for Digital Ag projects.

Future research

Future research and development should be focused on highlighting more benefits of connectivity to build a better business case for producers to seek better services. Increasing the benefit as well as reducing the cost of connectivity increases the financial return for projects such as this and will be what drives the red meat industry forward into the phase of growth.