The DAWN of a new age

Innovative DAWN set to change dryland farming in Australia

After two years in development, Delta Agribusiness has commenced the installation of automatic weather stations and soil moisture probes as part of a new, innovative network referred to as DAWN (Delta Automated Weather Network).

DAWN will be a comprehensive network of 72 connected sites across Delta Agribusiness’ New South Wales footprint – a 12,000,000 hectare area in which every hectare will be less than 25 kms from an automatic weather station and soil moisture probe site.

The cutting edge, dryland specific technology - developed in Australia by Delta Agribusiness - offers farmers a level of accuracy, detail and localisation of weather data that has not been seen in Australia before.

“Farming today is different to what it was 20 years ago. Margins are tighter, competition is greater, so any edge a farmer can have that benefits their decision making process can be the difference between a successful season or not,”

“DAWN offers farmers an indisputable advantage by providing accurate, consistent data on the most variable factor in farming – the weather,” Delta Ag Managing Director, Gerard Hines said. DAWN technology comprises Weather Stations providing data on rainfall, air and soil temperature, wind speed and direction, solar radiation, humidity and barometric pressure. A series of Soil Moisture Probes will be installed throughout this network to complement the weather station data offering underground telemetry connectivity. Each soil moisture probe site will record soil moisture at 20 cm intervals to a depth of two metres and will include soil temperature, as well as, an automatic rainfall gauge at each site. DAWN’s network of combined technologies is a first in Australian dryland farming.

Data produced by DAWN is provided to farmers using easy and affordable software supported by Next G connectivity. Delta Ag has already installed a number of weather stations with the first of the soil moisture probes being installed this month. The remaining locations will be completed over the next four to five months.

Delta Ag is committed to bringing innovative technology to Australian farms to make them more productive, profitable and sustainable. The DAWN project will complement and enhance Delta Ag’s new ‘precision ag’ platform, partnering with the Canadian company Farmers Edge, a global leader in precision agriculture.

“We see DAWN as the beginning of an innovation platform that will be transformational to the decision making process Australian farmers undertake every day.”

“While there is more to be done before DAWN can be fully introduced to the market in 2016, it’s rewarding to reach this important milestone and share it with our farming clients and their communities,” said Mr Hines.