Why FB Drilling backs every bore

In a drying climate, many farmers are swapping the old-school water-finding methods for data, deep rigs, and specialists who understand groundwater from rig to rock.

FB Drilling has grown from a single water-bore rig in 2017 to a six-rig fleet, drilling from shallow stock bores through to 1,500-metre Great Artesian Basin (GAB) production bores across Queensland and New South Wales.

From one rig to a deep regional footprint

Founder and managing director Scott Ferrier spent more than 15 years drilling oil and gas wells before turning his skills to rural water. That background influences everything from bore design to equipment choice.

“You’ve got to know your pressures, your mud weights, and what’s happening downhole — you can’t see it, but you’ve got to understand it,” he says. “That experience means we can think ahead and avoid problems before they happen.”

The company employs roughly 20 people, plus contractors, to keep bores turning from Windorah to Moree and beyond.

Highest standards for farm bores

FB Drilling lifts the bar on rural water-sector drilling by using regulated, high-grade steel casing, lab-tested cement blends (to stop leaks from the bore casing), and well-maintained, high-end rigs.

Those practices, combined with detailed geological research and sampling from every metre down the hole, are designed to give clients a straight, stable bore that keeps doing its job.

“We’re using lab testing for cement reports, so we know the bore is going to last longer,” Scott says. The company guarantees a reliable, functional bore – not a specific lifespan – and prices per metre based on depth, hole size, and travel distance.

Securing water for herds, crops, and towns

Most of FB Drilling’s work is about water security for agriculture: stock and domestic bores for cattle and sheep producers, bores for mixed and grain farms, and deep production bores for broadacre farming.

What farmers care about, says Scott, is performance they can trust. “Every job we do, we’re trying to provide the best for the client,” he says. “We want them to have a bore that works, that’s reliable — that’s what really matters on the land.”

Benefits of choosing FB Drilling