Tech tools for improving productivity, profit and pasture in the pastoral rangelands
Tech tools for improving productivity, profit and pasture in the pastoral rangelands Conference Proceedings
Australian Rangeland Society 19th Biennial Conference: Transition to Transformation
- Author(s): Murray Grey, Tim Driver
- Published: 2017
- Publisher: Australian Rangeland Society
Abstract: In the last 20 years there has been a huge surge in development of technological tools to improve the business of producing protein in Australia. While in the early stages this was mostly confined to the cropping sectors, more and more we are seeing the livestock industry embracing technology and the benefits it brings to business bottom lines. Unfortunately the remote pastoral industry has been behind the eight ball due to a combination of harsh conditions, limited access to online service and very low adoption rates, amongst other things. Tech companies have been quite successful in building hardware capable of withstanding the extremes of Australia's hostile climate and gradually, ever so gradually, regional Australia is joining the 21st century in its access to the World Wide Web at speeds not totally reminiscent of a slow motion replay. That leaves adoption... There are now tools available to the pastoral industry that can not only save time and money, but that can also identify inefficiencies, minimize unnecessary production losses and monitor pasture condition and availability to better manage our grazing ecosystems. The PPMS (Precision Pastoral Management System) is a software system based online via a cloud based network. It draws on multiple data products that are customized to each property. The RLMS (Remote Livestock Management System) collects live weight data and also an auto-drafting option, while pasture production is collected via satellite. Data is streamed back to the PPMS via the telemetry unit. This system is used to maximise animal productivity while minimizing overgrazing and land system degradation. The telemetry units also support other cost saving tools like Tank Level sensors, Digital Rain Guages, Remote Start/Stop function for motors and many more.
- Urls: https://www.austrangesoc.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/Grey_Paper_92.pdf, https://web.archive.org/web/20190305174007/https://www.austrangesoc.com.au/data/ARSC2017/2017_Conference_Papers/Grey_Paper_92.pdf
- Publisher Location: Port Augusta
- Keywords: drought, drought assistance, rural community, resilience, transformation, regional policy