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Wise, efficient automated irrigation with WiSA
Established 21 years ago in Echuca, Victoria, WiSA was one of the first companies to offer automated irrigation control systems in Australia. Australian made and owned, the company’s innovations not only improve the efficiency of irrigation systems, but give growers greater control and increased flexibility, ultimately saving time, money and water.
WiSA began in humble circumstances, created on the kitchen bench of founder Graeme Wright in 1996. His success in developing sustainable automated irrigation systems that allow growers to monitor, control and remotely manage their water use saw the company develop a formidable reputation.
WiSA’s system uses weather data and sensors to provide real-time weather, soil and environmental updates and control water and nutrient application. The data collected from sensors and field units is automatically mapped and can be accessed via smartphone or laptop.
This automated system ensures the right amount of water and nutrients are applied at the right time in the growing cycle, reducing water consumption and increasing crop yields and produce quality. Furthermore, WiSA’s system is modular by design, allowing customers to add to the system over time.
“All profits from the first ten years of the company went straight back into research and development,” says Paul Wright, Graeme’s son and the company’s sales director. “We still have the same customers from 21 years ago and this is because we are spending 40-50 per cent of our time on R&D in order to be able to offer upgrades to our customers’ systems at minimal cost.”
With increasing demand on limited water resources and the need to increase productivity throughout the agriculture industry, WiSA is continually looking for ways to improve the efficiency of automated irrigation systems. As such, the company has recently developed a new system specifically for the sugarcane industry.
“The sugarcane industry has so far used very basic irrigation systems,” says Paul. “There is a growing demand to produce a new valve board system in order to bring the management costs down for the industry as a whole.”
WiSA’s new two-valve board system can independently open actuators at different positions in order to better and more efficiently control the water flows.
“Instead of operating just one field unit that manages three irrigation units, for example, the grower is now able to independently operate all three irrigation units for the same price of one field unit,” explains Paul.
WiSA has simultaneously developed a single valve system that is more economical for vegetable gardens and parklands, a change from their previous boards that only operated multiple valves and were not economical for small operations. The company is also testing a new valve system that will incorporate radio and sensors into one small box in-ground, where the radio is at surface level instead of at the outer field irrigation areas.
“We are one of the oldest companies around when it comes to automated irrigation systems,” says Paul. “But unlike other companies, once you buy one of our systems it really is yours and there is no ongoing costs and no third party involved.
“Once we have a customer, we have a customer for life.”
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Trace minerals are required for optimal growth, reproduction, and immunity. Optimising trace mineral status relying solely on oral supplements across a herd may fail because of variation in individual intake and reduced absorption due to antagonism of other ration components and minerals. The use of injectable trace mineral supplements has been associated with positive reproductive outcomes including improved conception rate, increased odds of pregnancy and greater final in calf rate. A study conducted on 2,168 dairy cows, administered injectable trace minerals, four weeks prior to calving and again four weeks prior to the start of mating showed treated animals had a 3.3 per cent greater final in-calf rate, and a reduced time from start of mating to conception, compared to control animals 1 . The Importance of B12 Dr Carl Eden, Technical Services Veterinarian with Boehringer Ingelheim says “Vitamin B12 is sometimes referred to as a ‘super vitamin’ because it is only required in very small amounts but vital to many essential metabolic pathways. However, demand for B12 can vary considerably during the year and we see serum levels of B12 fall at critical times, such as the first few months after calving.” Vitamin B12 contains cobalt, so deficiency in cobalt can lead to deficiency in vitamin B12 because ruminants get most of their B12 as a byproduct of ruminal fermentation where the bacteria in their rumen assemble B12 from cobalt for use by the cow. Sub-optimal trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at calving, mating, and drying off has been shown to negatively impact growth, reproduction, and immunity. Using a trace mineral injectable containing vitamin B12 can improve trace mineral and vitamin B12 status at these critical times. Marks-Min with Vitamin B12 – The Evidence In the largest trace element study to date, Marks-Min Injectable Trace Mineral with Vitamin B12 demonstrated remarkable results when compared to a reference trace mineral injection. “Given the differences between Marks-Min and other products on the market, we wanted to generate a compelling data set to demonstrate how effective it was compared to the pioneer product. We entrusted this work to a third-party research company” says Dr Eden. “We chose farms that were at the top of their game from a reproductive perspective. We made sure that the farms had no evidence of trace element or vitamin B12 deficiencies or excess.” Across all outcomes of interest, Marks-Min demonstrated clear non-inferiority when compared to the reference product. Outcomes measured included submission, pregnancy and conception rates, and six week in-calf rate. Marks-Min demonstrated it is highly suited as an alternative treatment to the reference product. Reference: 1. Hawkins, D., and B. V. S. Franklin. New Zealand Dairy Veterinarians Newsletter 24 (2007): 12-16 Company website: livestockfirst.com.au Company email address: CustomerCare.Australia@boehringer-ingelheim.com Company video: https://vimeo.com/1138807630?fl=pl&fe=cm
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