TECHNOLOGY’S growing role in agriculture and protecting native wildlife will be one of the highlights of this weekend’s NSW Regional Tech Expo, with three Central Tablelands Local Land Services experts presenting.
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Senior land services officer Brett Littler will talk about his findings on using 3D cameras to assess cattle muscle and fat levels.
The estimates allowed farmers to determine which cattle needed extra feed and how much a carcass was likely to sell for.
“In some cases, it can predict better than a first-class assessor,” he said.
Mr Littler said the technology could be rolled out more widely within 18 months, depending on funding, and he hoped the software cost could be brought down.
It was an awareness-raising project.
- Tim Nalder
Fellow senior officer Tim Nalder will present his findings on a GPS trial in Orange last year, which followed domestic cats at night.
It found most of the 16 cats fitted with the devices travelled 500 metres from home daily and one feline travelled as far as three kilometres.
Mr Nalder said some cat owners had changed their habits since the trial.
“Some cats’ owners are now keeping them indoors at night,” he said.
“It was an awareness-raising project.”
LLS regional vet Bruce Watt will talk about integrated parasite management for cattle and sheep, given internal parasites were one of the most important and costly diseases for livestock producers in central NSW.