The tools of our trade:

Equipment and Technology

Riverlea use CNH tractors, for service and reliability and have a range of Trimble GPS units. Utilising autosteering, auto boom shutoff and auto & variable rate applications. Our combines are Belgian made straw walker machines from New Holland, these with long, steep walkers make an excellent job in heavy straw crops, adequate tumble time on the walkers minumises seed losses without obliterating valuable straw. The dual returns make for excellent seed samples without trading off capacity. We enjoy some old proven technology like Heston square balers, MacDon sickle bars, Honda quad bikes and Toyota hiluxs. If it ain’t broke- don’t fix it!

Given that we farm a lot of clay, the art of breaking not baking clods has been well refined in Europe. Therefore most of our seeding and tillage equipment comes from Europe from manufacturers such as Kverneland, Amazone and Lemken.

Great production gains have been made by soil and topography mapping irrigated fields. This data has allowed us in conjunction with AgLogic to develop land plaining and drainage maps. Our irrigation ensures the limiting factor is not the dry but the drainage and leveling has ensured saturation is not the limiting factor either. This strategy has changed the class of some of our land and incresed our production expections.

We use app based software to record all arable and livestock activity. This ensures that all of our produce can be audited from paddock to plate.

All of our livestock are individually tracked for liveweight by use of regular weighing with electronic ear tags. Using an XR5000 from Datamars we have excellent information at our fingertips to track and forecast liveweights. The sheep scales are auto draft and process and draft out several hundred per hour. We manually weigh cattle but all data from tag reader to monitor is collected and recorded automatically reporting daily liveweight gain from each animal.

All irrigators and pump stations are connected by sim card to an app-based platform for remote and autonomous operation. This operation for monitoring, control and notification is a game changer for efficiency with not only labour but water. Lateral move machines have remote start generators all operated through the same hub.

Water: Our properties pump water from the South Esk river which is the longest river in Tasmania. The catchment of this river is East of the Midlands. The farm has on farm storage which is winter filled. Further to this, other dams are leased upstream to buffer any shortfalls in the event of restrictions. The farm will receive more water from the Northern Midlands Tasmanian Irrigation scheme in 2026. This water is from West catchment and is even more reliable.

A blue New Holland tractor plowing a large field of dark soil, with an overcast sky and distant horizon.
A blue tractor attachment cultivating a large field of dark, freshly tilled soil on a partly cloudy day.
A red tractor spraying liquid on a farm field, with a barn, other tractors, and farm equipment in the background.
A blue tractor with an attached seed drill is planting seeds on a large, freshly tilled field under a partly cloudy sky.
Mobile app screen showing a map with irrigation and weather data for a farm at Valley 365, with various icons indicating different sensors and equipment.
A blue tractor with a yellow baler attached is harvesting hay in a field with hay bales scattered across the landscape. Mountains are visible in the background under a partly cloudy sky.
Map showing various land plots designated for livestock grazing, with icons of cows, land size in hectares, and different colored boundaries.
Inside a large warehouse or storage area with a blue New Holland tractor moving or spreading a large amount of grain or sand, surrounded by walls made of metal and wood, with a high, partially translucent roof letting in natural light.
Two large yellow harvesters working in a field under a partly cloudy sky with mountains in the distance.
A tractor with a planting or tilling attachment working in a large, open farm field under a cloudy sky.