Pasture Productivity

Having access to a free, online tool to help predict and prepare for upcoming livestock feed availability, farmers have boosted their productivity, efficiency and sustainability.

This $2.2 million project (Sense-T $512 000) brings together the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture and CSIRO to extend research conducted during Sense-T’s Stage 1 Beef and Dairy project. Researchers are further enhancing this pasture prediction model by using sensors and data to allow farmers to predict and prepare for different scenarios, and will further develop on-animal sensors to better monitor health, grazing and productivity in the dairy and livestock industries.

Sense-T Pasture Predictor

Tasmania produces some of Australia’s finest beef and dairy. A key part of this success is quality pasture. The Sense-T Pasture Predictor was developed through consultation with farmers who said they wanted to be able to determine and predict feed availability when managing herds, production and costs.

Sense-T, together with Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture (TIA), has created a unique online pasture tool that can help farmers manage their pasture. Free and easy to understand, it uses data from a range of sources including current weather conditions, rainfall events and past climate records.

New updates

Farmers can now view on a mobile device and access a new suite of other pasture management tools including; climate indices, leaf stage predictor and a nitrogen response calculator. Future developments will also look to include a long term pasture outlook tool based on climate future Tasmania data.

Impact

In the past twelve months, more than 1300 users have engaged with the online dashboard for 3400 views, with 935 using it multiple times to manage their pasture. Using these pasture management tools has enabled farms to increase productivity, efficiency and sustainability of their farm management practices