Are higher speeds worth it? (2024)

This question may sound obvious, but it isincreasing plate meter worth it?

Let's find out by looking at the cost of reading grass growth with a rising plate meter. And compare it with a satellite measurement service.

Just a spoiler: one of the highest costs when measuring turf with increasing slab thickness is not only inaccurate measurements, but also a waste of time. So let's waste no more and delve into the case study.

Case study:

A 150 hectare milking platform on a dairy farm in southern New Zealand.
Predominantly irrigated and in an area with high rainfall, fertile soil and a favorable climate.
Aim for a grazing utilization of 16 to 18 tDM/ha/year with 200-300 Kg N/ha/year.
Beukes et al. 2018 suggests $385/ha in additional farm profit by using your eye to make informed grazing decisions based on metrics.
Additional profit potential $57,750 on this farm by using an eye for grazing decisions to make informed grazing decisions based on grazing data.
The minimum wage is a conservative approximation of $30/hour (including expenses) for calculating the labor component of this case study.

The rising plate meter (RPM):

Work:

If you visit this property weekly, you will spend at least 3.5 hours covering the required ground, collecting the rotations and returning them to storage, carrying out maintenance, cleaning and so on.
The weekly farm walk is generally held once a week, 48 weeks a year due to weather, walkers' health and holidays.
Because some paddocks are skipped or included in the measurements from week to week, it is not possible to set the automatic paddock order of RPM. At the end of each paddock, the operator stops and writes the measurements on a paper card.
After the farm walk, the operator boils the pot in a cup, sits down at the computer and begins adjusting his spreadsheets to process the data entry from this week's farm walk. (They don't use the software that came with RPM because it's too restrictive).
After an hour of data entry, fixing the spreadsheet, and deciding where to graze the cows next, a full hour has passed. The farmer is revisiting this spreadsheet from the comfort of his home, mainly because the spreadsheet isn't working properly on his phone.

Equipment:

The rising plate meter or RPM is the central hardware component. The speed is usually replaced every 3-5 years, if not sooner, with poor maintenance.
Your computer, because spreadsheets don't work well on phones, right?
To analyze the measurements, clumsy and outdated software that comes with the plate meter or a spreadsheet is used. That's why we started building Pasture.io about 5 years ago!

Lectures:

The measurement frequency is usually once a week or 48 times a year, which is calculated as one grazing measurement every 7.6 days.

However, this frequency often drops due to poor weather conditions such as rain, which causes the grass and soil to stick to the rising plate meter. This makes it difficult to record the measurements accurately. And who likes to trudge along in completely wet weather in wet meadows with horizontal rain?

The riser plate meter in our analysis has a mean absolute error (MAE) of approximately 150 KgDM/ha, which is surprisingly better than most farmers' eyes when it comes to measuring grass cover. However, this MAE leaves a lot to be desired.

The walk should be performed by the same person week after week to avoid inconsistencies with operator bias. The problem with this is that if the operator goes on holiday or is ill, the walk is invariably overlooked or someone else steps in to measure the grazing.

Cost:

We can calculate the labor costs for the entire year with the three and a half hours to walk the farm, maintain the speed and all other associated costs, plus the hour we spend sitting at the computer, entering the grazing measurements and then decide where to graze the herd. The total billable hours is 3.5 + 1 = 4.5 hours.

Over a period of 48 weeks, this amounts to 48 weeks x 4.5 hours x €30 per hour = €6,480 per year in labor costs alone.

The riser plate gauge itself is hardware and, like anything else used on a farm, requires constant maintenance. Bent sticks, strained plates, dead batteries, dried out and clogged sticks, oh, the pain persists - believe me, I've done a lot of walking and I wouldn't wish that on anyone.

Rising plate gauges cost anywhere from $300 to $1,200 depending on the model you purchase. Let's not even consider the hardware cost, as the working part alone is expensive enough!

Satellite modeled automatic pasture measurements (Pasture.io)

Work:

Pasture.io's satellite pasture measurement service provides automatic input of grass cover, pasture growth rate and ryegrass leaf emergence. This automation means there is no labor component to providing these statistics that you have to worry about collecting.

Compared to 1 hour to enter data, correct a spreadsheet, find where to graze your cows next, etc., the satellite grazing measurement takes about 20 minutes to analyze and enter your pastures from your phone each week to model measurements for humming.

Equipment:

You can choose to receive your readings on your phone, computer and tablet. We'll set up your account and make sure you're comfortable with the process and can basically work from any device of your choice.

Lectures:

We use more than 160 satellites that fly around the planet every day. With these satellites you can take daily grazing measurements – yes, when it is clear, otherwise the cloudy day model comes into effect.

Across our entire customer base, our farms read approximately every 3.3 days on average. This frequency is 2.3 times the number of measurements performed annually at one speed!

As previously discussed, RPMs have a mean absolute error (MAE) of approximately 150 KgDM/ha. In contrast, our satellite measurements are less variable, with an MAE of only 56 KgDM/ha.

Remember when we talked about the rising plate meter that was better than most eyes? Well, our customers are amazed when they see for themselves what is in the paddock that matches our satellite grazing measurements.

And unlike the rising plate gauge, which is typically measured over a raw transect, the satellite measurements analyze every three square meter (3 m2) pixel across the meadow, bringing spatial resolution and spatial size into the equation. For example, it is beneficial to bring in the bare bank and not just measure the dense plateau!

Cost:

Our annual subscription has an annual fee of $1099 plus $8 per month. hectares per year. For a 150-acre farm, this amounts to $1,099 + ($8 * 150 acres) = $2,299

Let's summarize the results:

Weekly work requirements:

With rising plate meter = 4.5 hours
With Pasture.io satellite measurements = 20 min

Method for measuring grass growth:

With an increasing plate meter = 30 to 40 splashes over a fold
With Pasture.io satellite measurements = spatial analysis of every pixel over the entire paddock and use of other details such as grazing and fertilization activities

Additional hardware required to perform grazing measurements:

With increasing plate meter = Yes. Includes RPM, computer and software.
With Pasture.io satellite measurements = nothing. You get automatic measurements on the device of your choice.

Number of grazing measurements over an entire year:

With increasing plate meter = 48 bars
With Pasture.io satellite measurements = More than 160 measurements

Costs for measuring your pasture over an entire year:

With increasing plate thickness = $6,480 for 48 measurements. And $14,904 if you need 160 bars.
With Pasture.io satellite readings = $2,299 for 160 readings.

That brings us to the end of this article. We trust this has helped you.

If you would like to learn more about grassland measuring instruments, you may be interested in:The hierarchy of tools for measuring grasslands.

Until we meet again, happy measuring!

- Pasture.io's dedicated team, 04/01/2021

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