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ProSoils - Grain (Agskilled)

Fri, 23 Feb 2018 12:27:47 +1100

ProSoils - Grain - Management of soils and plant nutrition

This nationally accredited training is delivered in partnership with Tocal College and funded through the AgSkilled program funded by NSW Government, with industry partners the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and Cotton Australia.

There are no course fees for eligible participants from NSW.

This course is suited to agronomists (resellers and independent consultants) and farm managers in the grain industry whom are seeking excellence in the management of soils and plant nutrition rather than the basic sales agronomy training which is traditionally offered.

Leading independent specialists:

Dr Chris Dowling (broadacre soils and plant nutrition) from Back Paddock
Christian Bannan, Soil Physicist from SE Soil & Water

Locations and Timings:-

Temora 10th April 2018
Trangie 12th April 2018
Moree 8th May 2018
Tamworth 10th May 2018
Griffith 15th May 2018

Numbers for each course are limited so Click here to express interest in your preferred course

What makes this course different?

At Back Paddock, we understand that everyone learns differently so we have made sure that our professionally designed courses that we offer online are:

Interactive – Online training is not done in isolation and engaging with your online colleagues pays dividends. Everyone has valuable comments to make and questions to ask.

Blended Learning … for better, long-term retention of information - having more control over the pace at which you can learn, and as well as the opportunity to revisit course content as needed. In addition, the video and audio materials used in our online learning can also make the whole learning process more fun, yet effective.

Practical, relevant and suitable for a range of skill and experience levels – our courses have been developed in conjunction with industry experts so you can be sure that when the course is finished you can apply the knowledge you have gained in a practical way. If you are hungry to learn more there are lots of neat little calculators, apps and external content for you to be able to sink your teeth into. Your knowledge is also tested throughout the course so that you are confident to apply your new skills in the workplace.

External Industry Specialists – to make sure you get the very best of information during your course, we use our industry connections to bring in external expertise in different specialist areas all in the one area.

Trainer Support – Our online training courses has a Trainer that you can contact at any time to help you with any queries. Everyone needs help at times and this one-to-one contact ensures that you are not left in a learning vacuum where you are unsure about any aspects.

And another benefit of our course ….

Are you looking for your Fertcare Accredited Adviser (FAA) qualification? The core content of this ProSoils course meets all of the competency requirements for Fertcare Accredited Adviser (FAA) qualification – yes – you read correctly … ALL of the requirements, and, can you believe it … in this one course.

Learn Online

Wed, 31 Jan 2018 12:27:47 +1100

Targeted Better Soils Management (BSM) Online Training – Is this an option?

Dr Chris Dowling: “Yes it is … development of content BSM for Grain is well advanced and BSM for Cotton currently being scoped - both are being targeted for inclusion in (but not exclusive to) the NSW AgSkilled programme in 2018. Other courses will include sugar, horticulture, intensive pasture and extensive pasture.”

What is in it for me?

This is an exciting and informative opportunity for advisers and farmers to pursue excellence in soils and plant nutrition for themselves and, is also well-suited to advisers pursuing excellence in precision agriculture.

Back Paddock are committed to providing online training that not only looks impressive on the resume, but are actually enjoyable to complete by catering for all learning styles. The inherent benefits of online training ensure that our courses are built for the Australian Agricultural ‘climate’ (cramming at 10pm anyone?), while our Training team have taken the time to brainstorm and include specific features to grant you a personalised approach to your certification.

Successful completion of this course can be used to obtain Statement of Attainments (SOA’s) from the RTO to be put towards any future tertiary qualifications.

What topics does this course cover?

Our Online BSM course covers a range of topics including but definitely not limited to:-

✓ Principles of Plant Growth and Development

✓ Soil Fertility, productivity, pH, acidity and structure

✓ Soil and Water Sampling

✓ Trace Elements

✓ Crop Rotation Audits

✓ Nitrogen – including how to calculate Nitrogen fertiliser requirements,

✓ Phosphorus, Potassium, Sulphur, Calcium, Magnesium

What makes this course different?

At Back Paddock, we understand that everyone learns differently so we have made sure that our professionally designed courses that we offer online are:

Interactive – Online training is not done in isolation and engaging with your online colleagues pays dividends. Everyone has valuable comments to make and questions to ask.

And another benefit of our course ….

Are you looking for your Fertcare Accredited Adviser (FAA) qualification? The core content of our Better Soils Management course meets all of the requirements for Fertcare Accredited Adviser (FAA) qualification – yes – you read correctly … ALL of the requirements, and, can you believe it … in this one course.

Greater Yields with Lime

Mon, 29 Jan 2018 11:58:23 +1100

Back Paddock have been providing independent soil testing and interpretation service for over ten years. One of the most noticeable trend in recent years has been the increasing % of test conducted in central, southern NSW, Vic and SA with pH low enough to consider liming to prevent yield loss and advancing acidity to deeper in the soil. Recent survey of samples conducted through our services indicate up to 40 % of samples take for winter crops and autumn sown pasture across this region from 2015 to 2017 had pH (CaCl2) less than 5.5 and 20 % less than 4.5. As a result the questions “How to choose lime’ and what rate should I look at usually follow?”

How to choose a lime source?

The capacity of any lime to neutralize soil acidity and raise soil pH is governed by its neutralizing value (NV) and its fineness. These two factors influence the rate at which a lime is dissolved by acid in soils and the extent to which a lime can neutralize acidity once it has dissolved.

The cost effectiveness of any lime depends on NV, fineness, cost of lime, cost of transport and cost of spreading. The relative costs of different lime sources can be easily compared using these five pieces of information, as will be described in detail later.

Neutralizing value

Limes are natural, and therefore variable products. NV is a measure of the lime’s ability to neutralize acidity relative to the mass of a standard material, which is usually pure calcium carbonate. At a given fineness, the higher a lime’s NV the better it will be for neutralizing acidity. NV varies hugely with the type and source of lime so it is important that growers check and compare NV’s of limes before buying.

Limestone (calcium carbonate) and dolomite (magnesium carbonate) are the main naturally occurring minerals used to neutralize soil acidity. Less commonly used liming materials include magnesite (magnesium carbonate), quick or burnt lime (calcium oxide), magnesia (magnesium oxide) and hydrated or slaked lime (calcium hydroxide). Some of these are waste products from manufacturing processes.

Calcium carbonate is the most common liming material. Western Australia is fortunate in that coastal limestone sands (commonly called limesands), usually of high NV, can be extracted, transported and spread onto paddocks with minimal, if any processing. In other regions calcite tends to be the main form of calcium carbonate, but unlike limesands, it needs considerable processing and milling to make it suitable for spreading onto paddocks.

Fineness

At a given NV, the finer a lime the better it will be for neutralizing acidity. There is more contact between lime and soil with finer particles so reactions are more rapid and there is more neutralization of acidity.

Finer lime is better for two reasons. Firstly a finer lime has more particles, hence greater coverage when it is spread across the paddock. Secondly finer particles have a greater surface area so there is more chemical reaction between dissolving lime, hydrogen and aluminium ions (the acidity) in the soil solution.

Limes usually consist of a range of particle sizes so growers need to check the relative proportions of lime in each particle size range. Measurements of minimum particle size, and even of average particle size, fail to describe a lime’s potential for chemical reaction or its coverage across a paddock.

Lime image

Figure 1 emphasizes the importance of particle size by showing how much lime of different particle sizes is required to cover one hectare by topdressing. Although the figure unrealistically assumes homogenous particle size within lime it highlights the greater coverage and efficiency of finer limes.

But like NV, fineness alone does not fully describe the effectiveness of a lime to neutralize acidity. The two measurements need to be considered together to assess efficiency. The combination of NV and fineness is called the effective neutralizing value (ENV). This efficiency to neutralize soil acidity then needs to be combined with the ex-pit, transport and application costs to assess the adequacy of any lime.

Cost of limes

The best way to evaluate the real cost of a lime is to calculate its cost per tonne of 100% NV spread on the paddock. In order to do this specifications are required on the NV of each particle size range of the lime to calculate ENV. Particle size is commonly measured as the percentage by weight of the lime within five particle size ranges (the particle size ranges vary between states). Costs of lime, transport and spreading are also required to estimate overall cost.

The calculations shown in Table 1 estimate the cost per spread tonne of 100% NV. Because lime particles greater than 1 mm take so long to dissolve they are generally considered ineffective and are discounted accordingly. The effectiveness of particles from 0.5 – 1 mm are about as half as effective as finer particles. It is therefore imperative that for a lime to be cost effective it needs to have a large portion of its particles less than 0.5 mm.

Table 1. Calculations for lime to estimate the cost per tonne of 100% NV spread on the paddock.

Particle size range (mm)	Percent in each range		NV of each range	NV within range (= Percent / 100 x NV)
< 0.125	8		88	= 8 / 100 x 88 = 7.0
0.125 – 0.25	38		82	= 38 / 100 x 82 = 31.2
0.25 – 0.5	36		87	= 36 / 100 x 87 = 31.3
0.5 – 1	15		74	= 0.5 * 15 /100 x 74 = 5.6
> 1	3		80
				= sum of NV within ranges = 7.04 + 31.2 + 31.3 + 5.6 = 75.1

Cost of lime ($/t)		8.50
Cost of transport ($/t)		16.00
Cost of spreading ($/t)		8.00
Cost of lime spread on paddock ($/t)		= 8.50 + 16.00 + 8.00 = 32.50

Cost per tonne of 100% NV spread on paddock ($)				= Cost of lime spread on paddock x sum of NV’s within particle size ranges / 100 = 32.50 x 75.1 / 100 = 24.41

By using calculations like those in Table 1 different lime sources can be compared. For instance Table 2 highlights that Lime A is better value than Lime B despite the on-paddock cost of both lime products being the same. Lime A is of greater value because it is finer and the NV’s of the finer particles are higher.

Because transport costs are such a large component of cost per spread tonne of 100% NV, an inferior product can be more cost effective if it doesn’t have to be transported so far. In Table 3, Lime A is a better product and cheaper than Lime C but because Lime A has to be carted further it is cheaper to use Lime C.

Every situation is different, especially transport costs, so it is important to do the calculations above (or get someone else to do them for you!) if you are genuinely trying to source the most appropriate lime for your farm.

Table 2. Example comparing limes with different specifications and costs.

LIME A
Particle size range (mm)	Percent in each range		NV of each range	NV within range
< 0.125	6.0		89.9	5.4
0.125 – 0.25	46.6		90.3	42.1
0.25 – 0.5	37.0		95.2	35.2
0.5 – 1	9.7		73.1	3.5
> 1	0.7		62.5
				86.2
Cost of lime ($/t)		6.00
Cost of transport ($/t)		20.00
Cost of spreading ($/t)		8.00
Cost of lime spread on paddock ($/t)		34.00

Cost per tonne of 100% NV spread on paddock ($)				39.42
LIME B
Particle size range (mm)	Percent in each range		NV of each range	NV within range
< 0.125	9.8		76.5	7.5
0.125 – 0.25	20.9		67.8	14.2
0.25 – 0.5	24.8		74.2	18.4
0.5 – 1	12.7		70.8	4.5
> 1	31.8		74.9
				44.6
Cost of lime ($/t)		12.00
Cost of transport ($/t)		14.00
Cost of spreading ($/t)		8.00
Cost of lime spread on paddock ($/t)		34.00

Cost per tonne of 100% NV spread on paddock ($)				76.29
LIME C
Particle size range (mm)	Percent in each range		NV of each range	NV within range
< 0.125	5.0		87.7	4.4
0.125 – 0.25	45.3		77.9	35.3
0.25 – 0.5	36.6		75.8	27.7
0.5 – 1	10.7		69.9	3.7
> 1	2.4		65.0

Cost of lime ($/t)		7.00
Cost of transport ($/t)		10.00
Cost of spreading ($/t)		8.00
Cost of lime spread on paddock ($/t)		25.00

Cost per tonne of 100% NV spread on paddock ($)				35.13

Always soil test

Equally important as quality and cost is knowing where to apply lime. Highest returns are achieved by applying lime to soils of lowest pH that will respond most to lime applications. Soil tests, both of topsoils and subsoils (generally 10-20 cm and in some cases 20 – 30 cm), are the best way to determine where to apply lime and at what rate. The best and cheapest lime is a poor investment if it is applied where it isn’t required. Similarly lost production by not applying lime where it is required can be very costly. As with any investment, lime should be applied where it is likely to achieve greatest returns. Without soil tests growers are guessing with their lime investment.

The rate of lime required is a function of soil properties (pH and pH buffering), treatment depth, and target pH and lime quality. See the article about SoilMate online tools in this edition, the LimeMate calculator is a place to go to explore rate required and value of various lime sources.

Introducing PestFax

Sat, 27 Jan 2018 11:56:04 +1100

Free pest advice for the Western Australian grain belt

PestFax is an informative and interactive reporting service on pests and diseases threatening crops and pastures throughout the grain belt of WA. Weekly news updates throughout the growing season provide readers with risk alerts, current information and advice.

The Western Australian Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development is committed to providing applications to the agricultural industry that add value to farm management and profitability. The PestFax service provides farmers with information regarding the tracking of pests, weeds and diseases. By integrating with the Back Paddock system, information is captured in the paddock in realtime and published via the PestFax service.

PestFax has been operating since 1996. A large network of farmers, field agronomists, consultants and industry specialists provide weekly input into PestFax. This interactive input ensures that the best diagnostic and control methods are recommended to farmers and industry.

For 2018, Back Paddock is providing data-integration from Back Paddock CornerPost to the Department’s PestFax

service electronically, meaning as you’re recording target species from within the paddock diary and ag-chem

recommendation sections, then that information is anonymously provided in aggregated form to be published to the service. The integration will automate the previous long-standing process and will greatly enhance the reporting value

flowing through to the PestFax service.

PestFax is supported by Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) and promotes national pest management information and integrated pest management (IPM) principles.

For more information, visit:

www.agric.wa.gov.au/crop-diseases/about-pestfax-newsletter

Data Farming Update

Wed, 17 Jan 2018 11:54:07 +1100

Powering streamlined solutions in agriculture.

Industry veterans Peta and Tim Neale launch DataFarming.

Data Farming is a launch integration partner with Back Paddock for the Opterra platform for digital agriculture and is set to drive the basis of enabling spatial imagery across mainstream broadacre in Australia, by making the information more accessible through automation and affordable for broader use. The service launches at the end of summer with the availability of NDVI imagery, in preparation for 2018 winter crop-management. The Opterra platform enables the spatial information to be integrated directly to Back Paddock Adviser and Mobile, for both planning and in-field purposes.

For 20 years, Peta and Tim Neale have fostered strong relationships with a wide range of stakeholders in the agricultural industry. Together, they have developed customised technology and software applications that first brought ‘precision agriculture’ into mainstream awareness.

Now the pair are championing the next stage of technological growth in agriculture – with the official launch of Data Farming. From Wednesday 11th October, farmers will be able to access a free online app that provides satellite imagery of any given property.

Although satellite imagery is not a new concept, DataFarming aims to present this information in a manner that has practical applications – and is completely automated. For example, when used effectively, satellite imagery offers a powerful means for farmers to monitor crop growth, crop yield and other productivity issues.

Providing actionable insights from data

Whilst various companies offer ‘big data’ to agricultural clients, Peta and Tim focus on ‘small data’ that is user friendly. Their belief is that information collected on-site should be simple to interpret and should underpin informed decision-making.

Unlike competitors, many of the software tools that DataFarming offer are completely free. Peta and Tim instead focus on creating actionable insights from data – interpreting satellite imagery, production trends and other core datasets – to assist farmers with planning and productivity.

Welcome to DataFarming

DataFarming is an Australian ag-tech company that is developing integrated, easy to use, intelligent, precision technology solutions. DataFarming streamlines the process of capturing data, developing insights, and harvesting value in complex agricultural systems.

Our solutions allow farmers, agronomists, and industry to access real-time spatial agriculture data, with the aim to reduce risk and improve production. Our solutions focus on removing the barriers to adoption of precision ag technologies. We use spatial data analytics and artificial intelligence and provide end users with simple, real time intuitive cloud based solutions.

Our approach is based on integration, collaboration, and harnessing the value of technology and deep insights to provide the agricultural industry with the tools to farm and make decisions in the agriculture industry with more precision.

Actionable solutions

DataFarming provides actionable solutions for two distinct types of agricultural clients:

Service businesses who require site specific data (The Digital Agronomist™)

Industry level partners who require Agri-Intelligence™ (derived from the integration of site specific data for region-wide insights)

Our clients are leaders in their chosen fields, and benefit from DataFarming’s insights by accessing business solutions that are directly applicable and actionable.

With these distinct client segments in mind, DataFarming has developed a suite of tailored products, designed to meet specific needs.

Our technology solutions

The Digital Agronomist™

Tailored to meet the needs of agronomy service providers, The Digital Agronomist™ provides real-time crop health assessments, yield maps, variable rate prescriptions, and other key datasets to ultimately increase productivity and profitability.

Using current industry software to complete these processes is a long and tedious process – often involving up to 15 steps, and requiring specialist knowledge. DataFarming’s tools provides agronomic solutions such as variable rate files in 1 simple step, in real time, in a user-friendly format, and in-field where required.

The Digital Agronomist™ addresses the market’s need for real-time access to digital agricultural data, formatted in a user-friendly manner. Agronomists know that correct timing for planting, pesticide, and fertiliser applications are critical, however they do not always have easy access to data and analysis to inform this process.

The Digital Agronomist will provide access to automated PA data which allows strategic soil and crop sampling in identified zones, seasonal forecasts, and in crop monitoring and alerting.

Our product enables agronomists to focus on areas that will reduce costs, increase yields, and improve sustainability. The Digital Agronomist™ will apply artificial intelligence to provide actionable solutions for our service provider clients.

Agri-Intelligence™

The DataFarming team work collaboratively with leaders in research, commercial business, and technology development to build agricultural intelligence solutions, using machine learning to develop insights never before seen in crop production. Commercialisation of research is a key focus and our partnership with 3 leading Australian Universities provides the science behind our agri-intelligence solutions.

Real experience

What sets DataFarming apart, is that our company is led by two of Australia’s pioneers in precision agriculture, Tim and Peta Neale. DataFarming is also backed by one of Australia’s largest privately owned Agricultural, Engineering and Environmental consultancies, Premise Australia.

Tim and Peta have been precision ag consultants for 15 years – and have pioneered much of what is happening in this space today. The DataFarming team of software developers, field technicians, and consultants are closely aligned to agronomists and the service industry alike.

Together, we strive to assist farmers, agronomists, and industry players to derive measurable value from spatial data. DataFarming focuses on offering valuable information but in an integrated, accessible, user-friendly, and low-cost manner.

Opterra Pre-Launch

Wed, 10 Jan 2018 11:51:25 +1100

Welcome to the pre-launch of the Back Paddock Opterra platform for digital agriculture and it’s about integration on multiple fronts.

The Opterra development is based on feedback from our clients that in order to optimize productivity croppers need to combine soil, water, plant data and mixed farmers need to integrate livestock data as well.

So, what is Opterra?

At its core, it’s an architecture to bring all the elements that need to be managed on-farm into a single environment, to then build-out what needs to integrate with that core environment…what falls out of that is the list of other technologies that complement each other but have previously been disconnected. A great example is traditional soil-testing (below the ground agronomy) combined with spatial imagery (above the ground), where a biomass image can provide insight into where and how to divide a paddock into pragmatic management zones, to determine soil-test sites and later for paddock inspection and so on.

It’s also very much about designing from the get-go, a platform that is ready to interconnect and interoperate with other applications and platforms. Initially, there’s just four integration partners but over the next five years with the expansion of on-farm internet-connected devices and machines it’s expected there’ll be hundreds of separate vendors, all part of a interconnected, networked environment. So, in one way it’s an integration of the Aussie homegrown vendors, but also looking at the continuum of the farming cycle from pre-season planning to post-season analysis, on a perpetual basis.

In stage I, in an industry first, we’re bringing livestock planning in alongside crop-planning. Meaning that we’ve added the APVMA-registered animal and veterinary health product catalogue to the Back Paddock Master Database, to enable mob-planning to replicate crop-planning.

In the past five years, the agronomic world has changed substantially. We’ve moved from mostly paper-based content to electronic, largely by the availability of mobile devices with wireless connectivity such the iPhone and iPad, that have made use of mobile-apps in the field. Another trend has emerged though, that is causing the next wave of disruption based around the reality that in agriculture we’ve collectively created hundreds of applications yet ‘nothing talks to anything else’.

The industry is now screaming out for someone to ‘join-the-dots’ by taking the fundamental (data) requirements around farmer, farm, paddock, zone and making that available to as many applications that need it, as today to use more than one application on farm requires that housekeeping to be duplicated. That core aggregation then defines the second stage development for Opterra, to enable many applications to share and more importantly integrate information to enable complex interpretation to occur. Back Paddock has done that for many years with the interpretation of soil-test results to crop-type specific nutrition programs and now the next iteration is the interpretation of available feed within a paddock, to the optimisation of available energy to a livestock mob.

Opterra Livestock Integration – the trial period.

Opterra is a multi-year, multi-stage project with initial rollout across 2018. Back Paddock is working with a now-established early-adopter group to drive the development of what will become the unique platform integrating soil, water, plant and animal. The first piece of that program of work is to integrate animal and veterinary products to the master database, such that livestock planning can occur alongside crop and pasture planning and for the first time enable whole-farm planning across mixed-farming enterprises.

In parallel, our Dr Chris Dowling is working with TPC Agriculture’s Mark Emonson on the feed-budgeting ‘maths and science’ to take the crop and pasture nutrition ‘interpretation’ to the level of mapping livestock classes to the available dry matter in paddock. There’s enormous industry interest in the outcome of the work to address the need to optimise stocking rates, better manage pastures (sustainability) and maximise profits. We invite any further expressions of interest if you have an appetite to assist us with the project.

We welcome you to read on to the following pages for some insight into the initial launch partners and the core context of where and how they are core to the broader platform for digital agriculture.

HelpDesk Update - Welcome New Starters

Wed, 03 Jan 2018 11:49:40 +1100

What is it about Back Paddock Support that separates us from the rest? Is it our knowledge? Our firm handshake? Our pleasant phone manner and our passion to help? Our drive to be the very best at what we do? We think (behind a firm handshake – clear winner – nobody likes a limp one) it’s a combination of all of the above.

Our thriving and growing Support team are diverse in both location and background, spanning from coast to coast and Networking to Livestock. By our powers combined there is no program we can’t wrestle into shape, and we like to think no on-farm real life situation we can’t relate to.

Charging into 2018 we have our newest recruits Melanie in Melbourne and Sian in Bencubbin on the ground as Regional Consultants; from Brisbane we have Cheryl as Training Coordinator and Sarah as Software Support and, keeping things even-keeled in the middle we have Katy as Sr. Customer Support Lead in Kempsey.

What a team! The Back Paddock ‘Magic’ Support team wish you and yours all the very best for this festive season, and look forward to helping you grow your business using our products and services in the New Year.

Catalyst for Change - Summer Update

Mon, 01 Jan 2018 11:47:37 +1100

G’day, all the very best to you and yours over the holiday period and may 2018 be a very prosperous year.

It’s time for a new years update, and I think as well, time for a frank assessment for Back Paddock of the year that was. We’ve been going for eighteen years and there’s an extended group of you that’ve been with us for all of that time. For many years, Back Paddock was the toolset you pulled off the shelf in January, hammered for ten weeks, then parked again once pre-season planning was done. But man, a lot’s changed.

In the past five years, we built Cornerpost, we built the mobile apps and we built what is now a substantial Data Centre. We scaled up from two standalone Windows programs to a multi-user, multi-device enabled platform that today hosts more than ten thousand farm clients with twenty-two thousand farms, approaching thirteen million hectares of broadacre cropping and grazing land. But we certainly didn’t get it all right. In the first generation we’d used some programming methods and architecture that simply haven’t scaled well or been as robust as we need. In one instance, we created a data replication issue in the planning information as part addressing a bigger system change. It didn’t impact a great many users, but it frustrated the hell out of the ones that it did. We’d recognised the issues, but also decided not to shortcut the changes and went about reengineering the platform for the next wave of change; those changes have consumed us for the past six months.

In that time, we made the decision to stall the release of new functionality in all but one area; SoilMate mobile ordering. We still have until we nail down the last of the back-end change, which will be complete by the end of summer 2018. The redesigned environment is based on large-scale platforms that have tens of thousands of users and massive throughput, hence we’re seeing speed and robustness we just couldn’t achieve in the original environment.

In the midst of that change, we lost Adrian Ross in June 2017. Adrian was the founder of the Back Paddock Software side of the business and passed away suddenly. It was a shock and incredibly sad. Complex and often hilariously witty, Adrian had a very fertile mind, full of ideas and possibilities. He had the ability to distil complex situations to their essence and create a simpler way, to really ‘nail it’. His legacy is software that continues to have a substantial impact across Australian agriculture, surviving the test of time over 20 years.

Adrian’s passing forced us to make changes to our organisation that had been in the works for some time. The outcome is that at the end of October two founding shareholder employees had left the business. After a tough year, it is an exciting time for Back Paddock, with a new generation of bright young things to take us into the next phase and beyond.

And so, let’s talk about that change. Firstly, we created the new role of Operation Manager and promoted Brett Pollard into that role. Brett’s been with the business approaching ten years and incredibly well-versed in the day-to-day operational aspects. Congratulations to Brett. In turn, we moved Katy Lee into the role of Customer Service Lead, responsible for the customer service function and regional coordinators we have across Australia. Congrats to Katy. We then moved Alex Samson, another ten year employee into the role of Product Engineering Lead, congrats to Alex. Both Katy and Alex report to Brett meaning that the connection between feedback from users in the field and the people with the wherewithal to correct things is a closed loop.

Right on from that, we made a further decision to take a good part of our product engineering capability up to the Philippines. Truth is, we’ve struggled for the past few years with the software engineering talent pool in Australia, for the rates we can afford, when running a niche business in a technically-specialised field. Alex Samson, formerly a Filipino national, now a proud Aussie (except when it comes to boxing!) has taken the lead in recruiting our own staff on the ground up there, with the assistance of a local HR company. He’s just back from a ten-day stint onboarding the first team, who

are iOS (iPhone/iPad apps) specialists. Their first task is to finish the ‘plumbing and wiring’ of the new services that will manage sync, master database sharing and a whole bunch of other activities between CornerPost and the mobile devices. They’ve been working through the Christmas break to give us the acceleration we need, starting with resolution of some app’ crash issues around Paddock Diary and Observations. We have two years-worth of R&D initiatives to rollout in 2018, but we can’t and won’t do that until the remedial work is complete.

Alongside that, Katy’s been busy recruiting and onboarding two new Regional Coordinators for both Southern region and our first ever coordinator for Western Australia, Sian Pladdy. Sian’s on-farm with her hubby and young family out at Bencubbin on the wheat belt and has ten years ag-industry experience in WA. Melanie Brown’s based in the outer parts of Melbourne to service Victoria and South Australia. They add to Sarah and Cheryl, who’re Brisbane-based. We’ve always worked hard at our customer service and I reckon these folk will do well as the new-faces of Back Paddock.

And so, its welcome to Sian and Melanie, and Michelle, Chris and Diane up in the Philippines, you represent the future for Back Paddock. But that’s not enough, what we need as well is a platform for digital agriculture that can deliver what you, our collective user network have been telling us you need. So, for the next few pages we’re going to introduce you to what will become known as the Opterra platform for digital agriculture based on an architecture that integrates the fundamental aspects of agriculture – soil, water, plant and animal. But firstly, a tiny bit more on where things stand.

In 2010, Apple announced the iPad, a touchscreen mobile tablet running ‘smartphone-like’ apps that they’d championed with the iPhone, released a few years earlier. Since then, the whole world’s changed. Almost every agronomist we work with carries an iPhone and/or an iPad and uses mobile applications on it all day, every day, whilst working on farm. But we’ve also created another trend that’s become a substantial issue and that’s the basis that with a hundred ag’-specific apps to choose from, nothing talks to anything else. More specifically, in ag’, every app needs at its core a data structure around farmer, farm, paddock, zone; yet using five different ag’ app’s means you have to ‘do the housekeeping’ five times over. The big trend in our feedback is that we have to fix that. In the corporate world, we’ve been partnering with SST Software for the past three years to utilise their agX platform to create a unified data structure and that’s a good solution. Yet outside of that, we’re seeing the need for a simplified structure, not designed for precision agriculture as such but designed for mainstream agriculture to ‘join-the-dots’. And that’s what Opterra is to be…

Key components of Opterra will be spatially-based, and you’ll read about DataFarming in later pages, a really exciting partnership.

Associated with the Opterra change, we will be revising our subscription options, to cater not only for spatial products but also for the different levels to which our products are used. Back Paddock use varies from in-paddock functions, like sampling, observations, counts and rec’s, to professional farm management and financial consultancy. Our fee structure will reflect these needs.

This needs to fit with your business needs, so there’ll be consultation prior to introduction at the end of summer 2018.

So I think it’s appropriate that we provide an apology to any of you we’ve frustrated this year with operational issues and the subsequent hold-back of innovation delivery. We’re focussed on getting that right and acknowledge that we live in an ever more competitive environment where choice is prevalent.

Let’s get on with it, there’s plenty to tell you about.

Festive Season Key Dates

Wed, 06 Dec 2017 08:16:23 +1100

It’s that time of year again! Please see lab and Back Paddock closure details in the link below for the 2017 Festive season.

Public Holidays for this festive season include 25-26^th December and 1^st January. All laboratories resume normal trade 2^nd January, 2018.

Back Paddock Support will be closed on public holidays, and are pleased to offer an emergency 2hr response on 27^th to 29^th December and the 2^nd January while operating on skeleton staff.

KEY DATES

Note: Sample Cut-Off Dates are when the samples are to be received at the lab to ensure receipt of your results before Christmas. Reporting after Christmas should not be expected before 10th January, 2018. Information above has been provided by each laboratory and may be subject to change without notice.

We hope you have a wonderful festive season and look forward to continuing to work with you in 2018.

JOIN US! New position open now!

Fri, 10 Nov 2017 12:49:19 +1100

Are you passionate about Ag and helping our clients achieve their technical and agronomic dreams? Do you like a spot of travel? Are you a go-getter that loves working autonomously and as part of a team? Are you in VIC or SA?

We want YOU!

Apply for our new Regional Customer Support Consultant position and join our team of shining stars!

Take stock! ... Of your bags

Fri, 27 Oct 2017 08:23:48 +1100

With petiole season just around the bend and harvest starting to roll in it's time to place your orders! Contact us to order your plant tissue, soil or petiole sample bags, delivered direct to you free of charge.

Planning! App > PC > App

Fri, 20 Oct 2017 13:48:52 +1100

We've had your first Planning phone-calls so it's time to get back in the game! Dust off that poor old laptop, plug her in, pull up a seat and have a cuppa. Back Paddock are right there with you as you move from your in-season recs to your pre-season planning.

Check out our latest Planning Process cheat sheet!

Sampling season? Get lab test prices online

Wed, 20 Sep 2017 12:49:57 +1100

Did you know that lab test product codes and pricing are available online? Follow instructions below to get the latest codes and costs from our website:

Go to our SoilMate website
Sign in using your Back Paddock credentials (contact us if you need these)
Click the map of Australia
Select your required laboratory from the top drop-down
Download your Excel document with codes and prices

Sample bag stash getting a bit low? We can send some out free of charge, contact us to request these.

Happy sampling!

Are you getting the most out of your product? Free online training

Fri, 15 Sep 2017 11:24:37 +1100

Did you know Back Paddock offers free online training for our products? The HelpDesk team are here to make sure you are getting the most from your products and we take this role very seriously.

Jump onto our online HelpDesk here to book a time that suits you, or give us a call on 07 3220 2959 to book a time direct.

We will call you at your appointed time for a customised training session, moving as slow or as fast as you like!

Why not give us a try?!

BPC is at Techspo 13-14th Sep

Wed, 13 Sep 2017 08:30:00 +1100

It's already happening, it's already here! Back Paddock is at Techspo in Katanning, represented by our own Chris Geeves. Drop on in and say hello - he'll be excited to see you at Stand 16!

Check out the Techspo site here.

Back Paddock is ready for Dowerin!

Thu, 17 Aug 2017 12:20:20 +1100

Are you heading over to the Dowerin Field Day on 30th and 31st August? If so, come and meet Katy from the team at Site 4, Tech & Innovation. She'll have a stall set up and she's PUMPED for a chat, a demo or a quick training session. Come along, bring your iPads or iPhones and grab the chance for some face-to-face time.

Dr Dirt's Plant Tissue Testing series complete

Thu, 10 Aug 2017 12:53:38 +1100

Our Dr Dirts Quick Tip of the Day: Plant Tissue Sampling series by Dr Chris Dowling has been completed, and is available on YouTube now! Check out these short (under 3mins) videos to learn the Do's and Don'ts of the tissue sampling season, linked below for your viewing pleasure.

Introduction, why test?

Which Plant Part is Best?

The 4 D's of Nutrient Acquisition

Understanding your Interpretation Data

Trouble-shooting Situations

Thanks Chris!

Sneak peak! SoilMate ordering on Back Paddock Mobile

Fri, 04 Aug 2017 12:05:40 +1100

Check it out! The SoilMate Mobile component of our Back Paddock Mobile App is getting a make-over. These screenshots are so fresh we haven't even seen a BETA, in fact they're so fresh they're news to us too! Look. At. These.

View barcodes in Order

Add barcode to Order

View Orders

Well played Development!

YouTube and HelpDesk overhaul!

Wed, 02 Aug 2017 09:00:00 +1100

At Back Paddock we've taken a full head of steam and used it for the common good, spring cleaning a month early! Check out some of our new YouTube videos for everything from a timely How To to our new Dr Dirt tips. Our HelpDesk has also been under the knife with our team tearing down the old and creating new HelpSheets for both Adviser and SoilMate programs.

Check out a couple of our most popular below.

Adviser

Create crop map with legend and heading, save as PDF

Set up Spray Rec Template, sync to App

How to: Rename Adviser client files

Import SHP files into Adviser

SoilMate

Create rec inc Grain N plan (video)

Results: Reload from file (eg re-tested samples)

Enjoy!

Tip of the Day! Dr Dirt takes the mic'

Tue, 25 Jul 2017 15:00:00 +1100

Tune in as our own Dr Dirt takes the field, bringing you timely tips and fresh information to help you smash your agronomic goals. Video 1 in our new series "Plant Tissue Sampling" will be hitting the decks today!

Like or Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn to keep up with these short 'n' sweet videos from our favourite Dr @BPCDrDirt