The Blackets’ bore run starts at home
“I just get up in the morning and I let my fingers do the bore run.”
Frank Blacket, Alderley Pastoral Company
For Frank Blacket, that is how a water check begins now. He and Radha run Alderley Pastoral Company near Boulia, Queensland. Across a property of that scale, checking every bore and trough by travelling to it took time. A problem could also arise just after someone had left.
“If a pipe splits as you drive away or a trough lets go that night, you don’t know until three days later when you get back there,” Radha said.
Frank was not immediately sold on changing the way he worked. “A lot of people are still stuck in their own old way and don’t want to embrace technology, and I guess I was probably a bit the same,” he said.
More than five years on, Frank and Radha have over 30 Farmbot monitors across their property, and they continue to expand the setup. They can check water readings before heading out and use that information to decide where a visit is needed. The trip still matters. Now they have a better idea of which trip to make.
“I now just chopper out to where the issue is,” Frank explained.
Being able to check from elsewhere has changed more than the morning round. “It allows you to go to a campdraft and still monitor your waters,” Radha said.
Farmbot gives the Blackets another way to keep an eye on water across Alderley. Frank and Radha still know the property, make the calls and go where they are needed. They can start with a reading instead of a drive.
