Farmers can now access timely weather information from even their most remote paddocks thanks to a telematics system installed to monitor water use from the Wimmera-Mallee pipeline.
The Taggle M2M network, rolled out by GWMWater as part of its Rural Pipeline Intelligence Project, has been key to a BCG initiative including the installation of 50 remote weather stations on farms across the area.
BCG chief executive Chris Sounness said the Davis Vantage Pro2 weather stations collected rainfall, temperature, humidity and wind data, which is then transmitted to the farmer’s smartphone or computer via the GWMWater Taggle network.
“LX group, an Australian smart technology company, developed the system to allow the weather station to transmit the data using the GWMWater Taggle network,” Mr Sounness said.
“This data is then provided to the farmer via the BCG-developed Data Farmer website.”
Weather stations can be installed anywhere on a farm as long it is in the region serviced by GWMWater’s piped water supply, giving farmers the ability to know what weather conditions are in their paddocks wherever they are.
Mr Sounness said information was provided to the user almost real-time and is updated every 15 minutes.
“We plan to have harvest fire risk index and Delta in the future which are both key pieces of information farmers’ use when making decisions about operations,” he said.
“We are of the belief that data should also be able to feed into whatever online recording tool a farmer chooses by utilising an application programming interface.
“We are working on ensuring that our data can feed seamlessly into popular programs such as Back Paddock, SST Sirius, Ag World, PAM and ProductionWise.
“This ability for farm data to feed into the farmers preferred platform is key for digital agriculture to deliver value back to the farmer.”
For more information BCG’s weather station project, visit datafarmer.com.au or phone Mr Sounness on 5492 2787.
