As the demand for sustainable sources of food increases, providers of meat-based products are enforcing greater and greater levels of sustainable management practices on their Supply chains. For example, MacDonalds Australia, are requiring all producers of beef (Graziers) to meet a set level of sustainable land management practices on their suppliers. Procurement contracts are being linked to these criteria.
For Graziers, a key component to their sustainability practices is the overall management of their land. Graziers are hugely dependent upon weather and soil conditions of their land as inputs to their pasture management practices. So ensuring that pastures are not overgrazed and therefore depleting key nutrients in the soil (that can take many years to re-establish) is critical for long term sustainability and for economic viability.
Spatial Hub Analytics FarmMap4d Assists Sustainable Grazier Farming
This is where Spatial Hub Analytics with their grazier farming mapping and management platform, FarmMap4d, can truly assist the objective determination of sustainability management practices. For over 6 years, FarmMap4d has been providing up to 900 grazier properties with near real time sustainability information. They do this, by aggregating multiple data sources including accurate satellite spectral imagery showing vegetation levels over time (up to 25 years) with the influencing BOM weather data over the same period. A Grazier can then benchmark their own paddocks against each other and against a wider geographic region. This comparison allows a truly objective benchmark measure of the sustainability of a specific farm and the output of the sustainability practices of the individual graziers.
Spatial Hub Analytics are now offering this national service to corporate clients wishing to objectively audit their supply chain. FarmMap4d currently maps and manages over 900 farming properties, covering greater than 10% of the Australian landmass and over 1 million head of cattle."
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