Creating Accurate Spray Records
The INCYT team are easy to work with, and they’re always there to send a message to or call if you need a hand with something - I would definitely recommend them to any farmer out there.
Type: Livestock, Cropping
Crops: Wheat, Barley, Vetch, Lupins
Size: 6,500 hectares
Steven McMaster used to have to rely on inaccurate weather data as the nearest weather station was over 50 kilometers away. He also had no easy way to record the weather at the time of spraying, nor create any other kind of spray record.
When Steven found out about INCYT he decided to get an INCYT weather station and separate rain gauge for a farm that is located 10 kilometers away.
Because Steven now has access to local weather data at all times, he is able to create accurate spray records and knows he is always covered in case he needs to show his spray records to the EPA for an investigation, or use them for any other purpose.
A family operation
Steven McMaster grew up on the farm at Hillston, NSW that he now farms himself, in partnership with his younger brother, mother and wife. On 6,500 hectares they grow a rotation of wheat, barley, vetch and lupins, as well as run a flock of sheep in winter to control winter growth. For Steven, wanting to become a farmer has been part of his life since he can remember: “Looking up to my dad when I was growing up really cemented the idea that I wanted to be a farmer myself one day as well, and so I got involved from a young age. I can still remember helping dad and driving tractors without auto steer back in the day, and what a difference it made when we finally got the first of our big tractors fitted with one.”
Steven continues: “That was probably the first bit of ‘proper AgTech’ that we implemented on our farm and it made a big difference to us. I immediately noticed that it’s much easier to stay in a straight line all day and not get fatigued anymore like we used to get before. This really helped us do big hours when we had to get work done during the season, and we were able to do things better because we stayed on the mark. It might seem like such a normal situation now, with auto steer present everywhere, but I remember how much of a difference it made for us.”
Implementing Technology
When the Australian Federal Government’s On Farm Connectivity Program opened up in 2023, Steven had already heard about INCYT from other farmers and so decided to have a chat with the team and assess his options. Steven: “We didn’t have a weather station on our farm and instead had to rely on a public weather station that is located over 50 kilometers away, which makes it quite inaccurate for what’s happening on our farm. There had been some spray drift incidents in our area in previous years, so I knew that being exact with when we can or can’t spray and keeping records of every spray application we perform is important for us. For me this was a good reason to speak with INCYT and see how they can help us with this”.
“After speaking with the team I knew INCYT is a company we want to work with and so we ordered a weather station for our main farm and a separate weather station for our other block that’s about 10 kilometers down the road. With a lot of variability in rainfall across our area we find it good to know exactly how much rain we’ve had at the other block as well, as it can sometimes be very different from the home farm, although they’re only 10 kilometers away from each other. The INCYT team were great to work with, and we got the equipment installed by an INCYT partner from Griffith, which made the whole process very easy and hands-off for us.”
Steven continues: “Even after the equipment was all installed and up-and-running, the INCYT team still checks in with me regularly to see how I’m going with it and if I have any questions, so that’s been really good. The last thing anyone wants is having equipment that doesn’t work properly or you don’t know how to use, so INCYT being proactive with this makes a difference for us.”
Accurate spray records
With the INCYT weather station now providing Steven with accurate and local weather information, creating accurate spray records has become a breeze according to Steven: “My brother, myself and our agronomist Alan Bowring all have access to the INCYT platform and view the weather information at any time, which is handy in all sorts of different situations. Alan creates spray recommendations for us on Agworld, and we then turn those spray recommendations into an ‘actual’ spray record on Agworld. Instead of having to guess the local weather information and type all the information into the recommendation manually, we just screenshot the INCYT weather data at the time of application and attach this to our spray record in Agworld, which really makes the whole process of creating an accurate spray record quick, easy and accurate.”
Steven adds: “Every farmer needs to be focused on reducing spray drift, and of course we want to do our part there as well by only spraying when the label conditions are met. And, if in future there are any spray drift issues in the area and the EPA comes to check our records, we know that we’re now completely covered by having accurate local weather information from our INCYT weather station as part of our Agworld spray records to show exactly what we did and what the weather was at that time.” Steven concludes with: “When it comes to on-farm monitoring, you can make it as simple or as complex as you want to. We’ve kept it simple with just an INCYT weather station and a rain gauge, but it helps us with our spray records which are so important these days - we now know that we’re doing the right thing and that we’re covered from a legal perspective. The INCYT team are easy to work with, and they’re always there to send a message to or call if you need a hand with something - I would definitely recommend them to any farmer out there.”