Building Mesonet Capacity and Adoption in the Avon Region

This project aimed to support producers on their agritech journey by introducing them to new Automated Weather Station (AWS) technology, accompanied by an app with instant alerts and data interpretation. The project provided training to producers in how to integrate AWS data into their farm management decisions, highlighting a value proposition that had otherwise not been realised as shown by the low levels of AWS adoption across the region. It was expected that by word-of-mouth, growers would provide their own feedback to nongroup members in surrounding areas and beyond, thus increasing adoption levels beyond the immediate group.

The project results were shared with a wider audience at the Living Farm AgTech demo day, supported by the Wheatbelt NRM. Approximately 40% of the participants responded to the surveys. The results indicated several positive outcomes, including an increase in familiarity and perceived usefulness of weather apps, an increase in ownership and likelihood of purchasing AWS within the next 6-12 months and a reduced perception of poor mobile connectivity and AWS representativeness as barriers to adoption.

Participants also showed improved use of systems for interpreting weather station data and weather models for planning spraying operations. While the perception of modelled weather conditions from apps showed some improvement, the response to this aspect was overall ambiguous