CRAIG Brewin has managed Maranoa Downs at Stewart Range, near Naracoorte, for the past 16 years, where he runs Angus breeders and sometimes trade lambs.
The business also leases land near Rendelsham, which is about 100 kilometres south-west of Maranoa Downs.
"Water is key in our operation - we need to ensure we are getting enough feed and water into the livestock to reach their optimal weight and fertility targets in order to maximise their value," Mr Brewin said.
"With the leased block 100km away, we were constantly having to either travel back and forth to monitor water points, up to three times a week. We had been looking into telemetry systems and other technological solutions to see where we could better manage livestock and watering points across the two properties."
Mr Brewin came across Farmbots - which provide near real-time alerts on water levels - on display at Hamilton Sheepvention in Vic in 2019. He got four installed on-farm.
"It's essentially a solar-powered battery that you attach to your tank, which then has a cord with a sensor on it that gives you the tank water level," he said.
"Through an app on my phone, the water level is then made into a graph and we can see our trends in water usage throughout the day.
"It tells us how quick the tank is filling or when there's a leak, as we get an alert if there's excessive water use, or the tank is getting too low and we need to fill it again.
"Just last month, we had just gotten home from checking on the Rendelsham property, when we got an alert to say there was an excessive fall in one of the tanks, a pipe had let go.
"We hadn't planned on going back there for a couple of days, so it was lucky we got the alert as that could have been a lot of water lost and our livestock put at risk."
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Mr Brewin said the technology also picked up tank or trough issues not obvious to the untrained eye.
"Just because a tank is full, doesn't mean there isn't a problem under the surface, like a pump that is working too fast, or not fast enough," he said.
"Understanding how hard our pumps were working is something we probably wouldn't have picked up on manually checking water alone. By identifying these issues, we can make changes accordingly and extend the lifespan of the pumps themselves by reducing wear and tear."
Mr Brewin said minimising pump use also saved on electricity.
"We only pump when necessary now, not to keep the tank constantly full like our old system would," he said.
"Having the level information and watching trends, we have minimised the amount of time we are using the pump.
"We're also improving our animal welfare by always keeping the water up to them, and we're saving on labour by reducing our travel."
Another labour-saving technology used on-farm is AgriWebb, which Mr Brewin says they have been using full-time since 2018.
I know there is always more on-farm efficiencies I can get from technology.
- CRAIG BREWIN
The livestock farm management software stores all types of farm data in the one program, instead of being scrawled across a number of notebooks or pages, and is stored in a cloud-based app, which means the information can be instantly shared.
"We employ 1.5 labour units here so it has made communication so much easier and clearer," he said.
"We all have the app, so we are all on the same page when it comes to stock rotations and locations, treatments, paddock history for spraying, and so on.
"It takes the explanation time out of day-to-day. I can just tell a staff member where they need to go and they can look on the app to see where those cattle are and move to the next location - it works really well."
Mr Brewin said he would consider more technologies on-farm to create more efficiencies, with virtual fencing, drones and cameras at water points in mind.
"After using AgriWebb and Farmbot now, I know there is always more on-farm efficiencies I can get from technology," he said.
"And we need to embrace it as a way of trying to modernise our livestock operation and make life easier for all involved."
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