Hay production is a $2.5 billion enterprise for Australian farmers, and the spontaneous combustion of hay is a significant economic and health risk for producers. Alongside the variety of factors, haystacks are a complex and detailed process, and involve the producers’ ability to safely store and manage their hay.
Throughout 2021, alongside business leaders at Insurance Australia Group, the team at IAG Firemark Ventures conducted a forced-ranking of use-cases in the Agri field. Coming out on top of this was haystack temperature monitoring, which, with the power of Internet of Things, and the ability to leverage the investment in portfolio company, Myriota, was a possibility to explore.
After a few months of strategic planning, a group of focused trial stakeholders was activated, which was to be done alongside Food Agility. The consortium included Charles Sturt University, Myriota and IAG. From December 2021 to May 2023, the trial was able to investigate a Haystack temperature monitoring solution and explore the ways in which haystack fires can occur.
