Farmers in the Lockyer Valley and Darling Downs will soon have access to more accurate and localised weather forecasts in a bid to manage the effects of weather and climate change on agricultural production.
The regions will be on the frontline of the Advanced Weather Network pilot in a collaboration delivered by the Department of Agriculture and Fisheries (DAF), Telstra and the Bureau of Meteorology (BoM).
Minister for Agricultural Industry Development Mark Furner said access to more accurate weather forecasts would support improved management decisions on crop production, labour and the supply chain
"Agribusiness is a weather-dependent business,” Mr Furner said.
“Access to highly localised weather observations and forecasts will give agribusiness improved insights into local weather.”
Mr Furner said DAF was working with Telstra and BoM to undertake phase one of the project.
“DAF is investing $280,000 in this project that will deliver commercial-grade weather stations on Telstra sites, linked with the high-quality BoM weather observation network and modelling capabilities,” he said.
“Telstra will install around 45 robust high-quality Internet of Things (IoT) enabled weather stations on Telstra sites and around 10 weather stations on farms and DAF research facilities in the Lockyer Valley, Esk, Gatton, Toowoomba, Cecil Plains, and other Darling Downs areas.
“The data collection and trial phase is expected to run until late 2021 with data made freely available to growers and users during the trial period.”
Telstra Executive Channa Seneviratne said the project was an example of how pioneering technology can be used to innovate industries having to adapt to significant market and environmental pressures.
He said the technology had the potential to help protect the livelihoods of farmers, and the nation’s food security.
“Technology like this helps us rise to new challenges, and this program will become a great test bed for agriculture, supply chain, logistics, utilities, mining, transport, and many other significant sectors in Australia.”
BoM’s Alister Hawksford, said the Advanced Weather Network project aimed to link the Bureau's network of weather observations with other observing networks to help agribusinesses make critical decisions.