Bush Summit 2024: Farmers reveal how important technology is to regional business

Brant and Angie Bettridge would record their cattle numbers with a notebook and pencil, and had no internet connection. That changed when they connected to the nbn.

Before Brant and Angie Bettridge connected their remote Queensland farm to the nbn, they would record their cattle numbers with a notebook and pencil, they had little or no mobile service and no internet connection.

What made this situation all the worse is that their Mt Wilga cattle farm – located about 550km west of Rockhampton and 80km from the closest town – is remote and their two young daughters would not have been able to access distance education without it.

“We wouldn’t be able to run our farm today without the nbn, it’s as simple as that,” said Angie Bettridge.

“And when we got it, it was just at the right time because a few years later we needed it for distance education for the girls.”

This story is part of News Corp Australia’s Bush Summit series celebrating rural and regional Australia and championing the issues that matter most to those living in the bush. You can read all our coverage here

The girls’ old schoolroom where Mikaela, now 21 and Sienna, 18 did distance education before boarding at Rockhampton, has been converted to the farm office with a booster that runs from the main internet connection at the house nearby.

Brant and Angie Bettridge on their remote farm at Mt Wilga, Queensland.

Living as remotely as they do, life can still be a challenge at times when it comes to connectivity. The fifth-generation farmers have mobile reception and internet connectivity only in their home and in the office, using a Sky Muster satellite.

But outside of that, mobile reception is virtually non-existent anywhere on their 21,000-acre property – not unless you stand at a certain angle on top of a hill in a paddock with the phone held above your head, Angie jokes.

“Having the nbn connection has really transformed the way we do our admin in particular, which is now all done over the internet, from banking to our BAS and payroll - everything,” she said.

“And we use an app called AgriWebb which tracks our heads of cattle and a lot of the biosecurity we use, like the chemicals used on the property or on the cattle.

“So, gone are the days of the notebook and pencil.”

The Bettridge farm at Mt Wilga has around 2300 head of cattle, while a second property they purchased in 2019 about 650km away at Baffle Creek in Queensland’s Gladstone area has another 800 head of cattle.

The nbn is a major partner of News Corp Australia’s National Bush Summit.

Originally published as Bush Summit 2024: Farmers reveal how important technology is to regional business