Livestock producers can now zoom in for a closer look at their pastures using satellite data to make the most of their grazing paddocks.
The popular Pastures from Space mapping service - a partnership between the Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development, Landgate and CSIRO - has been upgraded with new features to measure and compare pasture growth across seasons.
This latest service covers the State's grainbelt and allows producers to access green feed-on-offer and pasture growth rates for their property to help manage livestock grazing.
Users can now view cumulative pasture growth rates as an average across the property and compare this to previous years, dating back to 2004.
This can help identify total pasture production, estimate potential stocking rates and examine whole-of-property growth potential for the season.
Farmers can zoom in on a pixel (6.25 hectares) and find all historical and current pasture data for that area.
The Pastures from Spacesite can be accessed at https://pasturesfromspace.dpird.wa.gov.au
As stated by Agriculture and Food Minister Alannah MacTiernan:
"Pastures from Spacewas a world-first service when it was developed almost 20 years ago to show estimates of pasture production based on satellite data backed up with rigorous paddock ground-truthing.
"Farmers are adept at incorporating a range of technologies to get the best from their farming systems, and this upgraded service will help them manage their livestock and be even more adaptable to changing seasons.
"The pixel function can focus in on part of a paddock to assess its potential production, and the impact of new practices, fertiliser application and new pasture establishment."
As stated by Lands Minister John Carey:
"The new Pastures from Space web application now opens up nearly two decades worth of Landgate's historical satellite information at a level that farmers and producers have never had access to before, all at the click of a button.
"This will allow them to make the most of good growing seasons and be more resilient through a dry season."
Agriculture and Food Minister's office - 6552 6200
