FARMERS in even the most remote locations will be able minimise the risk of spontaneous haystack combustion with a research project from Charles Sturt University.
In collaboration with Food Agility Cooperative Research Centre, insurance provider, IAG, and low cost, low power satellite provider, Myriota, the project is aimed at giving farmers a warning before spontaneous combustion occurs.
CSU lead researcher, Dr John Broster, said haystack fires are currently a big issue for farmers and put crops, machinery and fencing at risk, as well as a their own livelihoods.
"It can be very devastating - they've spent a lot of time growing the crop," he said.
"They lose that, they lose the income, but they may also lose confidence in their ability and in a lot of cases there's extraneous loss in the infrastructure it's stored in and in most cases farmers also store machinery in that shed too."
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Dr Broster said farmers have relied on the technique of pushing a crowbar into a haystack to see if it comes out hot, but the new technology will improve monitoring and allow the farmer to combat the problem.
"They'll have a more accurate warning for a stack to spontaneous combust and they'll be able to manage that," he said.
"They could pull the stack apart carefully to prevent that stack from catching fire so it will save them the loss of the income, the equipment and the infrastructure."'
Sensors can be placed in the haystack to monitor the temperature and send the data to the farmer's mobile phone.
Dr Broster said his team was conducting field experiments to collect base data, including setting a haystack alight while sensors monitored the temperature changes.
"This is a base experiment so we'll get a better understanding of what's going on so we can work out where to put our alarm sensors on that monitoring system," he said.
Dr Broster said the next steps would be to look at the new season hay and bale it in a way they would expect it to spontaneously combust.
"We'll also place field sensors in freshly baled hay to see the temperature changes when it's compressed and when it's put in a stack," he said.
"That will give us a normal [temperature] level and we'll know above that is abnormal so we can set our warning alerts at an appropriate level."
Dr Broster said the system would mean less hay was lost and farmers' wellbeing improved.
"There's that relief of the stress so they know once they put the hay in the stack they're not going to lose that, because they're monitoring it," he said.
Satellite company, Myriota, has come on board with the project to make sure farmers in areas with low or no mobile coverage can still receive the data.
Alexandra Bernard
Journalist based in Wagga Wagga covering all things agriculture in southern NSW.
Journalist based in Wagga Wagga covering all things agriculture in southern NSW.
