In the rolling hills and verdant valleys of North Wales, a technological revolution is taking root, quite literally. A new network of farms is embracing the power of the Internet of Things (IoT) and LoRaWAN (Long Range Wide Area Network) technologies to boost efficiency, productivity, and sustainability. This initiative, known as the Smart Agriculture IoT trials project, is fully funded by the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and delivered by Mentera on behalf of Ambition North Wales through its Digital Programme.
The project aims to harness the potential of smart agriculture technologies to help farmers reach their business goals. Over the coming months, on-farm trials will be conducted across North Wales, covering a diverse range of focus areas from dairy and red meat to poultry and horticulture. These trials will utilise LoRaWAN and IoT technology to strengthen individual farm businesses, with a particular focus on theft prevention, on-farm security, and environmental monitoring.
LoRaWAN is a wide-area networking system designed for connecting IoT devices and communicating data over long distances with minimal power consumption. This technology is increasingly popular in agriculture and farming due to its ability to connect simple, battery-powered sensors to the internet over large areas without relying on cellular or Wi-Fi networks. The project aims to build on the existing open access network developed by participating councils in North Wales to increase LoRaWAN accessibility to the wider agricultural sector.
The farms involved in the new Smart Agriculture IoT network span across all six counties in North Wales. In Anglesey, a horticulture farmer is investigating orchard soil sensing for efficient fruit production. The orchard is prone to both drought and waterlogging issues, and fruit trees are sensitive to small changes in soil pH. By monitoring soil conditions throughout the year, the farmer aims to make evidence-based management decisions, including interventions and species planting planning.
In Flintshire, a dairy farm is focusing on maintaining optimum herd health and welfare through monitoring housing environment and water intake. Using LoRaWAN and IoT sensors, the business will monitor environmental conditions of housing sheds, including temperature, humidity, and CO2, as well as water tank usage. If water usage reduces significantly or stops, an alert will be sent, indicating that the troughs may be fouled, and intervention can be made to empty the trough and refill with clean, fresh water.
A poultry farmer in Conwy aims to achieve problem detection within the poultry units, focusing on light intensity and water. Insufficient or high light intensity can negatively affect egg production, increase stress and aggression, and reduce feed and water intake. Water availability will also be monitored to identify water supply issues promptly and ensure a continuous, clean water supply is achieved at all times. Remote monitoring and alerts will be especially valuable during times when staff are not present at the units, such as overnight.
In response to the recent rise in trespassers leaving gates open in remote hill areas, a red meat sector project in Denbighshire is focusing on smart gate monitoring for improved livestock safety. This trial will install LoRaWAN sensors on various gateways for enhanced security, monitoring remote areas and receiving alerts for unauthorized access, providing peace of mind that gates remain in their correct state.
In Gwynedd, a beef and sheep farmer aims to improve water efficiency and water monitoring to better gauge water availability and immediately detect issues in water supply. With the newly developed water system supplying water to the lower part of the farm to enable rotational grazing, close monitoring will allow for informed management decisions to be made, ensuring livestock have continuous water supply throughout the year, avoiding the risk of affecting livestock performance.
The use of technology for better resource management is also being harnessed on a beef farm in Wrexham, aiming to improve electric fence monitoring across the farm. Continuous monitoring of farm boundaries will ensure the fence remains effective, and if an issue occurs, immediate alerts will trigger prompt repairs, avoiding complications such as livestock breaking out, as well as reducing time and labour spent on manually checking the fence.
Other focus areas include soil and weather monitoring for optimising grass production, operations alert systems and farm security, monitoring solar water pump systems for fault detection and usage, enhancing livestock health and productivity through soil health, water, and housing management, and farm security and asset tracking.
Manon Llwyd Lewis, Smart Agriculture IoT Trials Officer at Mentera, said: “This is a fantastic opportunity for farmers in North Wales to be at the forefront of agricultural innovation. The adoption of technologies like LoRaWAN is crucial for creating more resilient, productive, and sustainable farm businesses, and the network provides an exciting opportunity for us to integrate the advance in technology into the farming industry in North Wales.”
Gwenllian Brassington, SPF project manager at Ambition North Wales, added: “Digital innovation has the potential to drive real change across our rural economy, and this network demonstrates exactly how that can be done. By supporting farmers to utilise