Local Land Services encourage use of Farming Forecaster app Myall Coast Myall Coast by News Of The Area - Modern Media - February 15, 2022 Angus Hobson checks his soil moisture probe, the data from which is sent to CSIRO and ultimately ends up on the Farm Forecaster website. Supplied: Monaro Farming Systems. FARMING is a risky business at times, and with uncertainties that cannot be controlled such as the weather and commodity markets, it pays to really understand what is in play in your paddock. Local Land Services have been working with a combination of landholder and industry groups under the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund to develop an online tool that brings together local soil moisture monitoring, local weather forecast and CSIRO pasture modelling to create the ‘Farming Forecaster’. Advertise with News of The Area today. It’s worth it for your business. Message us. Phone us – (02) 4981 8882. Email us – media@newsofthearea.com.au The Farming Forecaster website brings all that information together and presents it in an easy-to-understand way so that farmers can use it to manage stocking rates and feed budgets with real time data. This project is supported through the Australian Government’s Future Drought Fund with thanks to the Australian Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment. Farming Forecaster is also supported by the Future Drought Fund, Mid-Coast Dairy Advancement Group, Glencore, MACH Energy, Upper-Hunter Sustainable Farming Group, Dungog-Gresford Land and Beef Group and Singleton Beef and Land Management Association. Matt Lieschke is the Senior Agriculture Advisor – Livestock for Southeast Local Land Services and believes this app will help to bring information to those in need easily. “Farming forecast is a decision support tool for graziers. “For the first time, we’re bringing together real-time information around soil moisture, predicted pasture availability and loss of performance as well as local weather data into one single platform that is available at farmer’s fingertips,” Mr Lieschke said. There are eighteen probes in the MidCoast/ Hunter Region including in Bulahdelah, Gloucester, Krambach and Taree which provide information on soil moisture, change, current weather and humidity as well as comparisons of current data versus the data from the probe’s history. For more information on the site and app, head to https://www.farmingforecaster.com.au/. By Tara CAMPBELL
