On the grassy Canterbury Plains of New Zealand, Craig Blackburn raises cattle and sheep in a line of work with a long tradition, in which he keeps a close eye on crops, land, weather and water.
But Blackburn blends modern technology with his agricultural roots to manage the 990-acre Blackhills farm, a complex, bustling operation with 2,100 cattle and 800 sheep. The farm runs on irrigated water from the scenic Rakaia River, and Blackburn uses SCADAfarm, an industrial Internet of Things (IoT) solution, to monitor and manage his water use.
“Every day I adjust my pivots and pumps for a variety of reasons — shifts in the wind, rain levels, crop requirements or local regulations,” Blackburn said. “Now I can monitor and control my irrigation system easily from my mobile phone, saving me hours of time not spent driving around the farm.”
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