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Simple but effective technologies at the University of Tasmania’s research farms demonstrate how on-farm modernisation can support growers to make practical day to day decisions.
Installed as part of TestLab, a government-backed strategic initiative to support Australian industry, the on-farm devices provide a proof-of-concept for farmers who will be able to interact firsthand and see how new technologies can help them make data-driven decisions, rather than relying solely on experience, gut feel and memory.
The Testlab project involves researchers from across the University’s College of Sciences and Engineering and strongly aligns with the Tasmanian Government’s Agrivision 2050 of increasing agricultural outputs at the farm gate to $10 billion by 2050.
Dr Marcus Hardie, research fellow in soil science at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA), worked with FarmPulse on the installation of technology at both of TIA’s research facilities and said the project’s goal was to assist farmers make better decisions and increase confidence that things aren’t going wrong.
“It’s about confidence that things are ok,” Marcus said. “The dams are full, the water troughs aren’t leaking, the irrigator hasn’t broken down.
“Statistically farms are the most dangerous workplaces in Australia. And farming is the least digitised industry locally and internationally.
“Through the SMART (Sustainable, Manageable, Accessible Rural Technology) on-farm technology, we are providing a situation where farmers can explore options themselves.”
Doug Clark manages TIA’s Vegetable Research Facility at Forthside. He has overseen research, trial, and commercial crops at Forthside since 2017 and has embraced the simple but powerful tech he now uses every day.
“It’s not rocket science,” Doug said. “It is stuff that has been available for a while.”
What makes the SMARTfarms special is that all the different technologies and sensors are being fed into the one system, with a single dashboard to display and record all the data in one place.
As he talks through a ‘day in the life’ he ticks off a list of on-farm pieces of technology that he accesses throughout the day, from both work and when he is off site, that are easy to use, easy to access, affordable, and effective.
At the peak of summer, the Forthside farm is abundant with a mix of research, trial and commercial crops, and water is front of mind.
“At this time of year, my focus is primarily irrigation based,” Doug said.
“First off I access the weather station.”
Doug chooses the weather app on his phone, scrolls through, and picks up the site address, where he can then check rainfall data, wind speeds, wind gusts, dew point, daily and hourly evaporation rates.
“So, the weather station leads us into what the actual crops are using – in way of moisture.”
The dashboard Doug uses allows him to read moisture data. Created by FarmPulse, the dashboard collects data from 20 soil sensors (among other data inputs) placed across the 54-hectare site.
“The soil probe reads down at 10, 20, 30, 40, and 60cm depth points,” Doug explains.
“As the moisture (from rain or irrigation) flows down past the tube it gives the reading to us. So, that is important for me, so I know when to program irrigation.
“That leads into the data the researchers can use as well, where you can track root growth and the impact of soil moisture levels on the compounds within the root structure.
“We’ve had some older tech – which involves manual reading, returning with the data and analysing. This is nice and simple - I have it right here on the iPad.”
Doug explains that time saving is his number one priority, while remote access has helped him to run the farm more efficiently and safely.
“If it is available to access remotely - whether you are sitting at home having a beer or tea or whatever - you are more likely to click on it, then you end up getting better results in the paddock.
A water level indicator is nothing especially new or exciting to most farmers, but having that data fed into a dashboard avoids the time it takes to walk, ride, or drive to check water levels of tanks or dams.
Another simple piece of tech is an on-site camera, which Doug also accesses through his iPad.
“If I am not sure if someone has forgotten to ring out for the day, I can zoom in on the car park, to see if their car is still there,” he said.
“If we have research units starting up at 7pm I can scroll around and make sure there are no blowouts (with the linear irrigator). If there is a blowout, I can turn everything off, cancel that shift, then it rolls onto the next shift. I can be out on the boat. I can be anywhere checking that.”
For efficient water use and tracking irrigation at Forthside, Doug uses software from MAIT Industries.
“We have a couple of different water pumps on site and then we have underground mains, so where that water pipe comes up out of the ground we have an old system - the conventional industry system - there is a valve on that with a tap that is only rated at 20 PSI (pounds per square inch), and we are putting 150 PSI up through it, so there is a pressure differential.
“Those little taps weren’t fit for purpose, they could blow out and hurt someone, so we replaced the taps with an automated valve. Now, we can either turn those valves on manually or via the MAIT dashboard.
“With MAIT we can program to start the pumps. If I wanted to start late at night I can automatically open hydrants, so I can program for 100 hours or three hours and have that close automatically.
“And over at the research unit – because we are trying to promote some sort of fungus, for example, – we can have that open at 7pm, just for five minutes, then again at midnight, the fungus gets away, the researchers are happy and because I don’t have to come in and manually do it by hand – so am I!
“It’s bloody good.”
The SMARTFarm project is supported by the University of Tasmania’s $1 million Industry 4.0 Testlab funding, which was awarded by the Federal Government in 2018.
This article was published in Tasmanian Country Newspaper on 11 February 2022.