MAXIMISING A PRECIOUS ASSET

“Our most valuable commodity is water – it grows the crops that we produce – so any opportunity to improve the efficiency of the use of that, and the timing of that, is really important to us.”

Cameron Geddes, a cotton and grains producer near Emerald, has successfully trialled a customised digital system to remotely monitor and control the 210-hectare property’s irrigation system.

CHDC has released this video of the trial, as part of the Smarter, Stronger Ag Through Farm Data program.

The program is a collaboration between CHDC and the Queensland Department of Primary Industries to support local producers to adopt on-farm data management tools to reduce expenses and increase yield quantity and quality.

Geddes Farming’s trial involved working with Span Engineering to modernised the property’s tailwater storage and recycling system, which had been losing reliability and adaptability over its 30-year lifespan.

“Using our smartphone and a PC, we’re now able to start and stop and monitor various speeds of the pumps, and also monitor the height level of our storages, power usage and hours pumped,” Cameron says.

“During adverse (weather) events, (we’re) able to see what’s actually going on, instead of wondering, or having to come out in the middle of the night to double check things. Or in the past, we’ve just turned the whole system off.”

The ability to make decisions in real time is also particularly valuable during wet weather.

“We’re able to create opportunities to improve our pumping and capture rainfall events as they happen which, in the past, we were unable to do,” Cameron explains.

CHDC Agribusiness Development Coordinator Jess Davison says it’s a shining example for other local producers.

“The world of agtech is vast and ever-expanding, which can make it tricky to know what could and should be adopted on your property,” she says.

“But Geddes Farming has shown that identifying a gap or challenge on your property is a smart place to start.”

Geddes Farming is one of three local properties to participate in the trials, which followed a workshop in early 2024.

An earlier case study from this project – Marathon Wagyu and its remote stock water monitoring system – can be read here.

Smarter, Stronger Ag Through Farm Data is funded under the State Government’s Agribusiness Digital Solutions Grants Scheme.