You’ve probably heard of the gadgets out there that allow for live tank and electric fence monitoring, all high-tech remote monitoring solutions that help out with the day-to-day operations of cattle stations. In the last 20 years these technologies have evolved significantly and become a lot more accessible to smaller scale cattle stations.
We made the implementation of a few of these gadgets (aka sensors) over the past 2 years and after the trial period we were very impressed with their performance. The trial period involved installing 4 tank and trough sensors, allowing for sustained monitoring of the water levels and reducing the need for daily rounds to manually check the troughs/tanks. Following their success, we have implemented a more diverse range of sensors from rain gauges through to vehicle trackers.
See a photo below of our self-installation of a tank sensor on Branxholme. Within the tank itself is an ultrasound sensor that determines the volume of water within the tank and displays it as a percentage.
These sensors primarily rely on a low frequency, LoRaWAN network which sounds complex but really it is similar to your phone connecting to the internet. The sensor (for example vehicle tracker) constantly produces data and then communicates with the gateway allowing for the data to be directly uploaded to the cloud. The data can then be viewed in real time via the app/software such as Farmdeck.
See below on the right for a photo of one of the LoRaWAN network gateways utilised on Branxholme. They are relatively easy to install and the only limitation is that it requires wired access to an internet port nearby.
Now the sensors are very user friendly in their capabilities allowing for a whole range of added capabilities including notifications when vehicles are moved, location notifications at set time intervals (e.g. every hour) through to being able to remotely disable the vehicles fuel pump. Also, as the sensors utilise a low frequency and can have programmed data release intervals, they are economical on power consumption commonly using household AA batteries. Based on our usage, these batteries commonly last 2-3 years. However, it’s also possible to get sensors that are connected to mains power along with 12-volt vehicle systems both of which contain an inbuilt battery default.
One of the most interesting capabilities of the network is the scalability as you can install as many gateways as you would like on the property along with as many sensors as your software will allow. Meaning, a smaller station can implement just a few sensors and one gateway and still have the option to roll out mass sensors in the future using the same infrastructure. This also means that for larger stations across different states, gateways can be implemented at each property and as sensors move onto the different blocks, they can be tracked.
These sensors are truly unique and in a league of their own as they push to fundamentally change the agricultural field. Even over the past 12 months, the current sensors and their data have indicated inefficiencies in the daily operations, allowing for focused improvements and cost reductions. These cost benefits can then be realised through purchasing more sensors and expanding our station’s LoRaWAN network.
By far the greatest benefit of the sensors is the ability for remote monitoring, meaning you can keep an eye on which tanks are filling and which are leaking through to keeping an eye on where the quad bike is as a means of safety.
It would be an understatement to say these developments only provide peace of mind to property owners as they allow for focused and methodical changes within the agribusiness structure, contributing to future scalability and profitability. Moving into the future, these devices will be a must have for most Australian cattle stations.
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