Sixteen farms to trial high-tech innovations

SMART PROCESSES TESTED TO HELP BOOST EFFICIENCY AND SUSTAINABILITY

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SIXTEEN farms across North Wales have been given the chance to trial the latest digital technologies designed to tackle some challenges they face.

The power of the Internet of Things (IoT) innovations and LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) technologies will be central to the launch of this new network for farmers.

The Smart Agriculture IoT trials project is fully funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and is delivered by Mentera on behalf of Ambition North Wales through its Digital Programme.

By using the power of smart agriculture technologies, farmers involved in the network aim to improve farm efficiency, productivity and sustainability in order to help them reach their business goals.

On-farm trials focusing on adopting technologies and new processes will be carried out across North Wales in the coming months, covering a diverse range of focus areas across the dairy, red meat, poultry and horticulture sectors.

From theft prevention and on-farm security, to monitoring rainfall, soil health, runoff and river turbidity for environmental awareness, to monitoring bulling activity with a suckler herd for improving fertility, these trials will utilise the power of LoRaWAN and IoT technology to strengthen individual farm businesses.

LoRaWAN is a wide-area networking system designed for connecting IoT devices and communicating data over long distances with minimal power consumption.

LoRaWAN is therefore considered a specific way for simple, battery-powered sensors to talk to the internet over large areas without relying on cellular or WiFi networks, making it increasingly popular in agriculture and farming.

In turn, the project aims to build on the existing open access network that has been developed by participating councils in North Wales to increase LoRaWAN accessibility to the wider agricultural sector.