MaiaGrazing is a new product from Macdoch Ventrues that gives graziers a position statement on their farm’s current situation and its productivity outlook to support decisions about how stock and pasture are managed for the coming days, week and months.

The new grazing technology was unveiled at the University of New England’s SMART Farm on 20 April, bringing together experts who discussed the emerging revolution in livestock management and supply chain technologies.

According to Maia Technology co-chairman Alasdair MacLeod, the event was held to showcase the significant Ag-tech innovation that exists in the grazing sector, and to discuss how it can be harnessed to increase productivity and profit. 

“We brought together some of the greatest minds and most experienced experts in Ag tech and grazing at this event, because until now, grazing has very much been the poor cousin to cropping when it comes to harnessing technology to maximise performance,” MacLeod said. 

“We wanted to showcase what’s available now to graziers, but also discuss how these new technologies and systems can set new standards underpinning food safety, food traceability and environmental sustainability for the industry, and explore Australia’s very real opportunity to become a leader in the convergence of Ag-tech and grazing,” he said. 

Australian Farming Institute executive director, Mick Keogh, said he tended to agree that digital agricultural technology will be the next major agricultural revolution. 

“I think it’s becoming very clear that Ag tech will transform the way that farm businesses and their supply chains operate in the next few years and that will open up major opportunities that will enable the sector to grow. However, those who are not prepared for change run the risk of becoming victims of that change,” he said. 

Bill Hoffman from Hoffman Beef Consulting said decision support technology is the next big king hit for grazing.

“There is an amazing range of current and emerging technology including MaiaGrazing and others; the challenge is how we make it all fit together to get the most out of it,” Hoffman said. 

The Willmot Cattle Company uses MaiaGrazing and says its greatest strength is the fact it measures grass. 

Stuart Austin from Willmot Cattle said the tool measured every aspect of the business.

“You can’t manage what you don’t measure. If we can measure the fundamentals, (soil, rainfall, grass, kilos of beef produced and income generated) we can maximise productivity and profitability whilst regenerating our landscape at the same time,” Austin said.

“Maia is valuable to us because we are fundamentally grass farmers and Maia measures it. It allows us to plan, monitor and manage, and see the rest period for every paddock on the property. We can match our stocking rate to carrying capacity, and productivity, people and environment are well and truly covered,” he said. 

Patrick Hutchinson, general manager processor group of the Australian Meat Industry Council, said the opportunity for data relies upon how it is used. 

“Programmes like MaiaGrazing are giving us confidence as an industry that data being captured can be used effectively and efficiently by producers. This is where we see a great opportunity for a supply chain approach in managing and using data, because if data is being generated and the industry is investing in it, we want to be sure that we can make full use of it for producers and in the supply chain,” he said. 

The launch of Maia Technology’s MaiaGrazing at the event demonstrated what technology does best, to reach beyond the capacity of the human brain to provide the basis for better decisions. 

MaiaGrazing gives graziers a position statement on their farm’s current situation, and its productivity outlook, to support decisions about how stock and pasture are managed for the coming days, weeks and months. That statement is built from data drawn from rainfall, animal and pasture growth models, and from a farm’s own management patterns, to provide a unique picture of future capability. 

Attendees at yesterday’s event were given a demonstration of the decision support technology, as well as eShepherd virtual fencing from Agersens and remote pasture management from Pastures in Space. 

Maia Technology CEO Peter Richardson said stress in agriculture comes from not knowing what comes next.

“If we can improve this using decision support technology, we remove the stress. When you know what’s coming, it’s a different story. This is what MaiaGrazing helps graziers to do and we were delighted to have a full house at today’s event to showcase how this works yesterday,” Richardson said.

“MaiaGrazing is just the beginning for Maia Technology, with the company’s vision to create an ecosystem where third parties can collaborate using the existing platform and data captured via MaiaGrazing, to offer a truly integrated system and approach for grazing,” he said.

“We recognise the power of the data we are collecting from producers - we want to bring together other ag-tech providers and products so that together, we can provide a one-stop solution for grazing management, instead of producers buying into lots of different widgets and systems.” 

MaiaGrazing’s unique power lies in its ability to learn from the past — not just from universal data sources, like historical climate patterns and pasture growth models, but how an individual property is grazed. 

“It’s not just a number capturer or cruncher - it’s a way to look forward and make the best decisions based on learning how a specific property performs,” said Peter.

The event titled Australian Ag Tech in 2017 – Precision to Decision for Grazing was hosted by Maia Technology featured speakers including Australian Farm Institute executive director Mick Keogh; veteran beef enterprise consultant Bill Hoffman; director of Resource Consulting Services Dr Terry McCosker; UNE SMART Farm’s Professor David Lamb; CEO of Agersens Ian Reilly; Pastures from Space Director Dr Simon Abbott; Australian Meat Industry Council general manager Patrick Hutchinson and Willmot Cattle Company’s Stuart Austin.