Weather app aids smarter farming

An online weather tool that allows farmers to make more informed crop and pasture management decisions has been developed by a Charles Sturt University postdoctoral researcher. Dr Darren Yates from the School of Computing, Maths and Engineering in collaboration with industry research partners SunRice and the Food Agility CRC, created the new Combined Location Online Weather Data (CLOWD) app. The app enables farmers and growers to analyse recent and historical weather information for any location in Australia, simply by selecting a point on a map.

Although the app was originally developed and tested with rice farmers in mind, it has shown strong potential for use with a range of other crops, including barley, peanuts, wheat, cotton, fruits and more.