Soil moisture monitoring in cropping regions
The Rain and Grain Project, with the use of soil moisture monitoring (SMM) probes, provides real time soil water content data. They record soil water content at one source point from 30cm down to 1 metre as a reference point for a paddock.
Monitoring sites have been commissioned in cropping regions throughout Victoria by Agriculture Victoria.
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We regularly publish our updated findings in the soil moisture monitoring newsletter.
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2018
Email soil.moisture@agriculture.vic.gov.au with any questions about the SMM updates.
Agriculture Victoria soil moisture monitoring sites
Soil Moisture Monitoring Sites:
- Werrimul
- Ouyen
- Speed
- Kerang
- Birchip
- Normanville
- Bangerang
- Lah
- Taylors Lake
- Coonooer Bridge
- Elmore
- Raywood
- Youanmite
- Hamilton
- Lake Bolac
- Sale
- Yalla-Y-Poora.
More information on the SMM program in dryland cropping can be found on our Soil moisture monitoring in dryland cropping areas page.
Things to ask services providers before investing
Here is just a small list of things that you may like to ask technology providers. Every farm is unique. While these questions are a good starting point, it is important to consider what other questions might be relevant to you and your farm business.
- Are there any limitations to technology, e.g. does it work with my soil types and what depths of the soil profile need to be measured?
- What is the expected lifetime of this product?
- What are the different connection options and is there an opportunity to change if the need arise?
- What add on features can be applied to this device (weather stations and additional moisture sensors) now and into the future?
- What information is on the dashboard, how to do you access the dashboard and how easy is it to ask for adjustments to be made to the dashboard?
- Can the data be easily extracted in an accessible format, e.g. excel?
- What is the service level agreement for ongoing support and what is the time frame for issues to be fixed?
- What is the warranty for the different parts of the equipment?
- How much maintenance is expected by the farmer?
- Will the service provider be installing the probe or is this required by a third party or the farmer?
- What are the ongoing costs?