LoRaWAN technology is an integral part of Scott Bate’s cropping and livestock operation, used to measure tank and troughs, electric fences, fuel levels and bore pressure at his farm “Bundah”, Talwood.

Speaking at a Macintyre Ag Alliance Ag Tech field day, Scott explained that LoRaWAN technology requires a device with internet connection called a gateway, which is positioned on a high point such as a shed or silo, and sensors installed around your farm that communicate with the gateway. You can either build your own sensors or buy ready-made ones.

Originally setting up a gateway in 2020, Scott is now expanding the technology on “Bundah” thanks to Macintyre Ag Alliance’s LoRaWAN project, funded through an Agrifutures Australia Producer Technology Uptake grant.

“LoRaWAN requires fairly simple and cheap infrastructure - a gateway installed with solar power costs around $1500,” Scott said. “Gateways typically have a range of around 20km, and neighbours can set up a shared gateway. LoRaWAN can’t repeat, so you need a separate gateway if you are traversing larger distances.”

Scott said he chose LoRaWAN for its many benefits over WIFI, mobile and satellite technology.

“If I’ve got a big mob of bullocks and it’s the middle of summer, I want to get very regular updates from my sensors to ensure I don’t have a leaking trough or empty tank,” Scott said. “Whereas some of the new satellites out there might only refresh every two hours, LoRaWAN gives us the ability to refresh the data every minute.

“Another major advantage of LoRaWAN over other options is that while it will cost you a little bit more upfront to build a gateway, you can then employ practically an infinite amount of sensors using that one gateway. This makes LoRaWAN much cheaper to scale up.”

According to Scott, LoRaWAN has quite a good range as it is non-line of sight technology. “In comparison, WIFI’s range is quite limited and can’t penetrate terrain and obstacles nearly as well.

“You also need some way to manage the information you receive from the sensors, and we are using Tom Wyatt’s platform called “Doover” Scott said. Doover is a user-friendly app that allows you to set up and manage a multitude of devices and sensors.

Other advantages are that LoRaWAN doesn’t use much data or battery power. “The Doover app monitors our battery use, and with solar the battery should last indefinitely,” Scott said.

This project was made possible thanks to funding from Agrifutures Australia.