Sheep Farming

Knowing exactly what you’ve got can be the biggest challenge in sheep farming, especially when managing land at various altitudes which is scattered with Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) or footpaths. Using Trimble technology, it is possible to accurately map your productive and non-productive land, reference objects or hedgerows and even record underground systems such as drains or water pipes. Either with a vehicle or on foot, not only can you share this information with your own team for locations, it can be used when planning future flocking numbers or when completing online administration.

A major factor in most things growing within it or above it, the health of your soil is important and needs to be monitored to get the most from it. Using tools to monitor the soil compaction profile and also the quality of crop can help build this detailed picture. Capture this information in one place and share it to vehicles allowing them to apply the correct nutrients or perform operations only where needed.

Machinery is often a means to an end for livestock producers – its value lies in improving pasture or getting a task done quickly. Mounting a Trimble display to your quad bike allows simple creation of A-B lines, delivering 30cm or less pass to pass accuracy. This ensures that a sprayer or applicator is not overlapping or, worse, missing a section of your land.

Our steering solutions include retrofitted hydraulic valves or motors. Partnered with a display, these solutions can steer most machines, including ATVs and older vehicles. Using our high torque SAM 200 motor, we can replace the original steering wheel, allowing you to control the vehicle – hands free – around the farm. Simple to transfer, you can then move this system to the tractor for tasks such as mowing or fertiliser spreading. For a more permanent solution, we can make your tractor ‘steering ready,’ retaining the original steering wheel. Increasing the specification of your existing equipment is often more cost effective than purchasing new and can deliver the same, if not better performance.

The backbone of our technology is accuracy using correction signals. We have the experience to identify the best solution for your location and business, and the knowledge to further tailor it to meet your every need. We can deliver accuracy from <50cm to 2.5cm pass to pass, and even allow it to be repeatable year on year. Depending on your application <50cm may be sufficient, but if you’re using our equipment to map an object (such as a manhole) in the mowing field, repeatable accuracy could be the difference between the mower hitting or missing the manhole. Various options are available, and our experts are on hand to help you choose the right one for your measurement needs.

Sheep farming often takes place in remote areas, and you may be the only person who knows where you are at any one time. This can be a significant risk should the worst happen. We realise the importance of knowing where you are, and can provide tracking options which can remotely check on machine locations – be it a quad bike or a Land Rover. Our asset trackers also have geo-fencing capability, so you can be alerted should they leave a predetermined area (a mobile sheep yard for example). Offering solutions for both powered and non-powered assets, we make it easy to locate all of your equipment and reduce the risk of injury or theft.

The weather is frequently talked about here in the UK, but less often measured. Being able to record and monitor weather patterns in real time can significantly help producers reduce risks to livestock or their ground. Using our Spectrum weather stations you can remotely check rainfall, which could confirm whether poaching is a risk or whether fertiliser application is worthwhile. Temperature information can also be monitored, offering valuable insight into the risk of drought or even worm breakout, both of which are detrimental to lamb crops in the wrong conditions.