Cotton growers in the Upper Namoi Valley of NSW are making weather data collected on 13 cotton farms publicly available to help protect local environmental systems, wildlife, bees, crops and livestock. These can be affected by what's called "off-target spray drift", which can be mitigated by accurate weather information to make better spray application decisions.
The Upper Namoi Cotton Growers Association (CGA) is investing more than $26,000 to tackle the issue head-on by bringing the data from 13 private weather stations located on cotton farms in the region online - and freely sharing with other industries and individuals. Everyone in the community will be able to access the information produced by the weather stations through a free app ‘Goanna Telemetry’, which has been developed by Australian ag-tech company Goanna Ag.
According to CGA President Nick Beer, the local cotton industry wants the project to benefit the whole community.