Precision livestock management: An example of pasture monitoring in eastern Australian pastures using proximal and remote sensing tools

Abstract

This paper describes components of a Pastures from Space® collaborative project between CSIRO Livestock Industries, the Western Australian Departments of Land Information (DLI) and Agriculture and Food Western Australia (DAFWA). Daily, continental scale, imagery from AQUA/TERRA Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and continental, gridded weekly climate information provided by the Bureau of Meteorology are used to derive estimates of pasture biomass (feed on offer -FOO®) and pasture growth rate (PGR®). Since 2003, weekly continental MODIS NDVI composites have played a major role in the formulation and distribution of PGR® to farmers due to the much improved ground resolution and the improved spectral sensitivity of the 250m² NDVI to photosynthetic material. More recently MODIS derived FOO® have been included and it is envisaged that in 2010 continental PGR® and FOO® will be available. FOO® and PGR® have proven useful in assisting farmers with setting sustainable stocking rates and paddock rotation rates. This paper also describes the outcomes of a 2008 field evaluation of within paddock FOO® for a grazing property in the Mediterranean zone of Eastern Australia and particularly highlights the issues of within paddock variability in individual MODIS pixels and the need for specific selection of pixels to better represent whole paddock FOO estimations.