Mesonet to move to subscription service

The Riverland and Mallee mesonet will remain free to use for at least another year.

The mesonet networks have been invaluable in preventing spray drift and off-target damage by providing farmers with accurate local weather information.

Conditions Over the Landscape, a entity formed in 2020 to manage the network, said state government funds were used to build the network but the ongoing time and cost to operate the network and provide data had largely been carried out by unpaid volunteers.

"It has been enthusiastically pursued because of the understanding that spray drift was a major problem," COtL director John Nairn said.

"The (COtL) directors have volunteered their time and their running expenses.

"It's finally got to a point where they've effectively run out of puff and their own personal resources to continue doing that."

Mr Nairn said COtL had explored different ways of keeping the mesonet free, but had been unable to attract funding to do so.

Potential funding organisations are waiting to see how a subscription service, with three different price points, fares.

Under the subscription service, users will have a choice of a standard, farm or premium bundle at $200, $365 and $500 respectively.

"We've gone back to government to demonstrate to them what we think it will cost us to sustain the network and our intention to test the subscription model," Mr Nairn said.

RELATED READING: Rain prompts spray drift warning

RELATED READING: New Riverland & Mallee Mesonet helps graingrowers with spraying

Mr Nairn said COtL had heard diverse feedback from farmers on what they were willing to pay and he said there was some concern they'd lose those people that really needed to be using the network once it went to a subscription-based model.

"With a wet summer, there has been some spray drift incidents in the Mid North," he said.

"Even with the mesonet being free currently, there are some people not using it.

"It would suggest we need some funding to promote it.

"We're under-funded because we can't even do promotion. We need revenue to get its name out there because we know the people using the system aren't the cause of the problem."

Grain Producers SA chief executive officer Brad Perry said inversion layer information gathered from the mesonet had been invaluable in helping growers ensure they were spraying at appropriate times.

Primary Industries Minister David Basham said the state government had been pleased to support the establishment of the mesonet network through a $1.2 million grant from the Regional Growth Fund.

"Ag Ex Alliance took responsibility at the time the grant was awarded for the ongoing management of the mesonet system and weather stations, including all running costs, which were to be funded from the participating farmers who are beneficiaries of the system," he said.

"The mesonet is a valuable tool to farmers and I have no doubt they will continue to contribute towards the system to help avoid the risk and costs of spray drift damage."