As part of a recent Hort Innovation-funded research project, south-east Queensland vegetable grower Jack Abbott trialled EM38 soil mapping and Wildeye soil moisture sensors­ to understand irrigation requirements on his farm.

Jack and the project team from the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries found that monitoring soil moisture across the field helps manage water-use and irrigation scheduling, and can be used for targeting irrigation rates with variable rate irrigation technologies.

Using a real-time dashboard allows growers to monitor soil moisture changes at different crop growth stages and respond to alerts.

“It keeps the irrigator honest, being able to monitor irrigation applied,” Jack said.

Prior to his involvement in the trial, Jack had little exposure to precision agriculture technologies and is now leasing the technology to use in his crops.

Watch this video for simple steps on getting started in precision agriculture in vegetables.

Click here to read Jack’s story and to find more information on precision agriculture.

Adoption of precision systems technologies in vegetable production (VG16009) was a collaborative project with the University of New England, Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, Harvest Moon, Primary Industries and Regions South Australia, vegetablesWA and the Society of Precision Agriculture Australia (SPAA).