REVOLUTIONARY cattle technology that combines pasture monitoring from space with automatic, no-human-required weighing and drafting of cattle is providing powerful decision-making data in northern Australia.
In trials run on five big stations across three states, the Australian-developed tool package has provided warning two months out that cattle would lose weight under current conditions, giving producers the opportunity to make marketing, stocking and supplementing decisions that save significant dollars.
Called the Precision Pastoral Management System (PPMS), the package has been five years in the making by scientists with the Co-operative Research Centre for Remote Economic Participation, a partnership between governments, business, universities, industry bodies and other stakeholders.
Researchers have been able to combine the data collected remotely with historical information, field work and station records to point to pasture trends well in advance.
In one case, that equated to accurate notice of a 33 kilograms per head weight loss over six weeks - incredibly valuable information for a manager to have in his back pocket.
How does it work?
A remote livestock management system is set up on a water yard outgate, which cattle need to pass over regularly - multiple times a day in some cases.
When an animal walks over it, their NLIS ear tag is read, weight recorded and that information is transmitted by telemetry to a secure server.
The latest addition is the ability to remotely draft off stock that fit within a certain weight specification.
Meanwhile, satellite technology collects and transmits pasture data.
A report combining live weight data with pasture condition and availability is compiled weekly which can be reviewed by the station manager from any location or time of day through their own customised website.
Where stations are famously large, country is often inaccessible and mustering is done only once or twice a year, often by helicopter, the PPMS is bringing a scientific, objective way to gather valuable information.
Research leader Sally Leigo, from the Northern Territory Department of Primary Industry and Fisheries, said PPMS reduced the pastoral workload and helped to balance livestock numbers with feed availability to avoid overgrazing.
“It’s a game-changer for rangelands grazing because, for the first time, it puts hard data on cattle live weights and feed availability in the hands of the manager, while reducing costs, lifting earnings and sustaining the pastoral landscape,” she said.
It was common for pastoral property managers to use their eye to make these decisions, which was subjective, Ms Leigo said.
“Because they are travelling station roads and fence lines, they are only seeing 2 to 3pc of the land mass,” she said.
“This is a way to observe the entire property and get objective data.”
The remote livestock management system is now available commercially, through Precision Pastoral Pty Ltd, while the developers are seeking partners to take on commercialisation of the entire package.
