Technology cuts farm-walk time and keeps spring growth on track

When pasture growth can change in a matter of days, having accurate information matters. West Coast farmer Brett McLennan shares how AIMER helps him stay one step ahead. 

With calving underway and spring pasture growth accelerating, West Coast dairy farmer Brett McLennan knows how quickly conditions can change. One week, paddocks are too wet to graze. A few days later, growth can take off. Keeping track of pasture and making timely grazing decisions has always been important, but for Brett, it used to come with hours of walking.

Brett is 50:50 sharemilking 550 cows on 199 hectares on his family’s farm, 15 minutes south of Reefton. Traditionally, monitoring pasture meant completing full farm walks with a plate meter, covering 18-20 kilometres and taking up to three hours at a time.

Looking for a faster way to stay on top of pasture covers, Brett began using AIMER, a pasture monitoring and planning tool that allows him to measure selected paddocks and update his grazing plan more regularly. At the start of last season, he wasn’t ready to put away the plate meter completely.

“I still carried the plate meter on my bike so I could double-check anything I was unsure about,” says Brett. By February, he had stopped taking the plate meter with him altogether. “I wouldn’t even get a quarter of the way across the paddock with my plate meter before I’d walk back to the bike, because it was telling me exactly what AIMER was.”

The ability to measure pasture more frequently has helped Brett respond more quickly as conditions change throughout the season.

“One minute we’re too wet, then five days later we’re just perfect, and the grass has taken off. With AIMER, I can do farm walks in quick succession or partial farm walks to keep on top of those changes.”

Having up-to-date pasture information also makes planning easier.

“AIMER’s optimisation is amazing. I can quickly work out how many paddocks to drop out for silage, or whether to add in supplement and how much, for my desired round length.”

Rather than relying on a single plan, Brett can compare different options before making a decision.

“You can choose a scenario and drop those paddocks out for silage, knowing you’re not getting into a deficit by cutting too much.”

The grazing plan has also made day-to-day management easier for the team.

“They’d be constantly asking, ʻWhere are the cows going tonight? How big is the break? How much supplement needs to be fed out?’ Now, a lot of that stress has gone because it’s all pre-planned once a week.”

For Brett, having better visibility of pasture helps him make decisions that align with his farming goals. By understanding what’s happening across the farm sooner, he can focus on making the most of homegrown feed while keeping costs under control.
 

New tool reduces need for regular farm walks

AIMER Farming has recently launched AIMER Satellite, designed to help farmers automatically monitor pasture when time, weather or workload make regular measurement difficult.

The tool combines satellite imagery, smartphone pasture measurements and live paddock modelling to provide pasture estimates across the farm, while reducing the need for full farm walks and manual data entry, without the need to record grazing events.

To find out more about AIMER talk to your local Farm Source TSR or visit www.aimer-farming.com
 

Article supplied by AIMER