Case Study: Stoney Creek Farm

Case Study: Stoney Creek Farm

03/10/2021

Vehicle, electric fence, water and weather monitoring at Stoney Creek Farm.

365mesh helped Stoney Creek Farm become a more efficient and safer farm. We’ve implemented essential features, such as vehicle, electric fence, water and weather monitoring.

Stoney Creek is a 500-hectare farm located in Bathurst, NSW. Owned by Mick Willott, who has been on the property for 15 years and is currently third generation in the area, this farm is home to 100 breeding cows and several hundred sheep.

“Bringing 365mesh onto the farm freed up a lot of time, so I can spend more quality time with my family and on the land.”

As a part-time farmer, Mick’s main challenge is finding the time to run his farm. In particular, checking the water supply daily sees Mick spending an hour driving and climbing up tanks to manually check his water.

To solve this challenge, we implemented our water monitoring solution on his farm. Sensors were installed in his water tanks and troughs. Since Stoney Creek doesn’t have phone connectivity across its land, we used LoRa technology to send the data from the sensors to the 365mesh application. To enable this solution, our team set up a LoRaWAN gateway mounted on a tower and powered by a solar panel

“I definitely don’t want cattle getting on the road and I can check from the house or in town, so it’s just good peace of mind.”

Stoney Creek farm is spread across a public road which splits the land into two. To help prevent Mick’s livestock from wandering onto the road, his paddocks are surrounded by 1,424 metres of electric fences.

With our electric fence monitoring solution utilising sensors, Mick can look at the voltage level of his fences at any given time and from anywhere. He knows that if the voltage goes below a certain threshold, he will receive an alert notification and be able to attend to the issue quickly, giving him peace of mind.

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“If something was to happen in the paddock, it will send an alert back and we can get help quickly. It’s a really good piece of technology.

Additionally, 365mesh’s vehicle tracking and quad bike rollover feature has been deployed onto two vehicles on Stoney Creek Farm. Using LoRa and GPS technology, sensors are installed onto his utes and quad bikes so their location and movement can be detected. From here, Mick can track the vehicles in real-time via his device. Useful applications for this feature include always knowing the vehicles’ location on such a large property, travel distance records can be used to help schedule vehicle registration and maintenance work, and the general security of vehicle assets.

Working cooperatively with vehicle tracking, tilt sensors that detect when a bike has rolled over have been fitted onto Mick’s quadbikes. In case of a rollover accident, Mick and other workers will receive an alert, allowing them to promptly attend to the vehicle.

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Mick’s ambition is to leave his farm better than when he started. As he is looking into regenerative agriculture, 365mesh will save him time so he can focus on strategic improvements like soil health.

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