Remote communications needed to check water levels

COLUMNIST expresses interest in a new industry and it isn't cattle, pigs or goats.

LAMB GROWER: Prolific prime lamb competition winner Peter Hood in front of some winning lambs. The Dry As A Bone columnist is interested in the same industry. Picture: Michael Nolan

DRY AS A BONE with Gerard Walsh

WITH the drought still to fully break, I am one of many who is checking waters regularly on our properties.

Cattle and horses can't go a long time without water and there is always the possibility stock will break a float, a pipeline starts to leak or the pump stops working.

The challenge I make to readers is to email me with any ideas using modern technology to be able to check the trough water remotely.

I did find a business that had an idea but next time I rang back, they weren't there any more.

There is the possibility of having a tank with a dish for the trough around the bottom but a float can still cause a problem.

I also believe it is possible to put something on the water line to indicate the water pressure but that doesn't guarantee a good flow of water at all troughs.

Surely there is a way using a solar panel on top of a trough and a mobile phone signal to check the height of water remotely.

A way to check water remotely would be great for people like me with an off-farm job but also for people who have better things to do that drive around checking a trough every day.

We have grain-fed three mobs of cattle before selling in the past four years and ended up with two water problems in a total of nine months. Luckily, the feed truck driver wondered why all the cattle were at the trough, investigated and discovered the water had run dry and let me know immediately.

Cattle on grain just can't run out of water. Two horses in a paddock will drink a trough dry in two days.

So the challenge is there for someone, either a primary producer, business or computer guru who reckons they can set up something so the water can be checked on a mobile phone.

A photo twice a day on the phone would be great. If anyone could come up with an economical plan, I am sure plenty of primary producers would jump at the chance to set one up.

I shouldn't just be talking about cattle and horses, there are primary producers with sheep and goats.

I have always said we would have ended up breeding prime lambs on the property at Greymare if I didn't get a job as a sports writer with the Daily News.

The bottom line is our two sons have talked about having a few sheep although the CEO is not a fan of sheep.

One of her earliest experiences as CEO was trying to get sheep into the yard when the dogs decided they had already done a full shift.

Not sure how all droughts would have impacted on our lamb business. As for dreams, I was also going to open the bowling for Australia in Test cricket but ended up struggling to make Wheatvale's A-grade team. Email me at gerardw@ warwickdailynews.com.au