Jock connects his farm to the future

Jock's e-technology tips

• Harness as much information as possible to guide management decisions – remote sensors, water monitoring, walk-over weighing and remote soil sensors are useful data-collection tools and can be integrated for enhanced efficiency.
• Your phone is a great connection tool so use the standard ‘smart’ features on your smartphone (such as weather, dropbox apps) and add targeted apps to suit your business needs.
• Connection is the vital link in a ‘connected farm’ – research the best connection options for your farm/business and do not settle for a ‘no’ from telecommunication companies.
• Use cloud computing to share information – the cloud supports data-sharing such as farm production information, saves time and money, and lets everyone involved in the business access data in real time.

Jock Graham, Coolac, NSW, in front of the tower he built to access high-speed wireless internet service.

PHOTO: Nicole Baxter

Growers can tap into farmgate solutions to meet rural communication challenges and push productivity

Jock Graham reckons he is no ‘techie’, but this has not stopped the New South Wales grower from developing innovative communication technology solutions for his family’s farming business.

Jock, his father Jim and his brother James farm 2500 hectares at the junction of the Murrumbidgee River and Tumut River at Coolac and lease 1300ha at Cootamundra.

The family’s mixed enterprise includes an Angus cattle stud, a Merino flock aimed at fattening lambs for the domestic market and 1000ha continuous cropping. They can hold 1500 tonnes of grain on-farm as a marketing opportunity and to capitalise on their location, about halfway between Sydney and Melbourne.

They also operate an on-farm sand quarry, a contract cropping business that manages 1500ha and a farm software company, Farm Apps. These diverse enterprises were the catalyst for Jock’s interest in more efficient communication systems and improved record-keeping capabilities.

Although the Grahams have fine-tuned their farming schedule (such as planting a mix of varieties to dodge frost risk and spread out the season for timely management of their own and contracted crops), Jock saw the opportunity to further integrate information and improve business efficiencies.

He credits his studies in agricultural economics at the University of Sydney and off-farm experience in the agribusiness sector as driving fresh perspectives when he returned home to ‘Eulonga’ in 2007.

It was around this time that the Grahams leased the additional land at Cootamundra and transitioned to using smartphones, providing a springboard for Jock to investigate alternatives to the traditional pocket notebook for collecting, coordinating and integrating data.

Farm record-keeping

Jock worked with a software developer to turn his initial Excel spreadsheet concept into an app for mobile devices.

“I wanted to capture paddock-scale data in our business so my brother, father and I could share information to improve efficiencies,” Jock says. “A point of difference was developing a product that reflected the intricacies of a mixed farm – compared with other apps that are tailored for cropping or livestock management. We needed a tool to coordinate all facets of our business, from in-paddock spray records to livestock husbandry to silo management.”

While taking the step to develop the F-Track app might seem daunting, Jock says the biggest challenge was tapping into the right skills.

“We worked with a programmer who understood the realities of farming and wouldn’t try to account for half a sheep. The experience reinforced the importance of aligning with people who understand your industry but who can also contribute new expertise and perspectives.”

F-Track was modelled for Australian broadacre conditions but has been adopted in Canada and North America, and Jock has developed modules for other industries, such as horticulture.

“The app has made a big difference to our own business. It has replaced three pocket notebooks, removed double entry and captured a detail of record-keeping that was previously not there.

“It has also saved us time and money. For example, we linked the app to our remote-management water technology and the ability to check troughs and tanks anywhere from our phones has saved us water runs and provided peace of mind.”

F-Track was the first step in Jock’s vision of developing an IT-connected farm, which integrates data collection tools such as cameras, frost sensors, weather stations, water management, livestock ID tags, soil probes and in-cab technology.

“Farming produces an endless supply of data, but how do we collect and use it?” is the question Jock ponders. “The key is to be connected and, of course, that requires high-speed, low-latency internet service.”

Global outlook

Jock is taking a global look at rural communication and connection as a GRDC-supported Nuffield Scholarship.

“Growers are the first to pick up new technologies we see benefiting our businesses, but we need connectivity. I’d love to see more R&D to get farm enterprises connected. It would not only benefit business through efficiency, but would provide a link to the broader community. There are social benefits from connecting with friends and family, and communicating to customers and consumers.”

On the Nuffield Global Focus Program tour to Singapore, the Philippines and China in June 2015, Jock watched other industries, such as dairy, harness technology to make decisions.

“It opened my eyes to the potential of technology to measure inputs and outputs and make decisions. For example, robotic dairies not only saved labour, but were also used to collect data and guide cow management. It showed me how big data can be harnessed to benefit an enterprise.”

In September, Jock, his wife Kate and their two daughters Eliza (2) and Sophie (4) also travelled to Hong Kong, the home of super-fast internet connection; to Europe, to view innovations such as driverless cars; and then to the UK and Ireland, where regional communities face similar technological challenges to Australian growers.

“My Nuffield research reinforces that fixed wireless, not mobile connections, is the cheapest, fastest and most reliable solution for home and business broadband in rural communities around the world.

“We can use this technology to leverage aspects of rural living – such as reduced radio interference and wide, open spaces – to connect our homes and businesses. Mobile internet is very good for mobile use but as a solution for home broadband it is expensive and congested due to unlimited user restrictions of mobile towers.”

While fibre optic remains the ‘holy grail’ for rural internet users, Jock remains realistic. He believes there are farmgate solutions to fill the gap in the telecom market until sufficient services and infrastructure become available.

Jock views fixed wireless as an option to bridge the gap in the market for small communities that do not provide a ‘business case’ for broadband infrastructure – and to demonstrate this, he took matters into his own hands in 2015.

“We wanted to test the theory that there are alternative options for growers to be connected – we weren’t going to allow a telco to tell us what we can and can’t access,” Jock says.

He developed a point-to-point network to tap into a connection at Gundagai, 30 kilometres from ‘Eulonga’. This ability to relay an ADSL connection replaces the previous slow and costly 3G connection via a mobile phone tower. The initial trial established a network between the three houses at ‘Eulonga’, allowing the Grahams to boost download capability from just 15 to 25 gigabytes per month to 1000GB/month, and cut their phone/internet bills by about $280/month.

Creating a shared network allows the Grahams to use cloud computing and share common software programs for increased efficiency in their business.

In November, they expanded to a multi-point network by teaming up with a small internet service provider. They now have 15 local houses connected to the system and are looking to expand.

“The agriculture industry has so many tools available to us to collect data, so it’s a matter of accessing secondary solutions to facilitate these tools,” Jock says.

Jock will travel to the US in early 2016 to complete his research. He also has his sights set on introducing live-tracking of livestock (using electronic eartags) in the next year as a management and marketing tool.

Ask Jock what his vision for the future is, and he is quick to respond: “A fully connected farm, where every animal, every paddock, every trough is remotely monitored; where data from soil probes and weather stations are integrated; where data is collected to drive efficiency and productivity.”

It seems this vision is on track at ‘Eulonga’.

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