McIntosh & Son expands Precision Farming team

McIntosh & Son Precision Farming Regional Manager, Josh White, with newly appointed Precision Farming Specialist, Sagar Vaghasiya.

Sagar Vaghasiya might be new to Moora, but he’s not new to precision farming technology, a fact that has already helped him recently secure the role of Precision Farming Specialist for McIntosh & Son’s Geraldton, Merredin, Moora and Wongan Hills branches.

Having recently completed his Master's in Agricultural Engineering at the University of Southern Queensland, Sagar spent time working with GL Water Services- a Southwest Queensland irrigation consultancy, where he specialised in creating farm maps and analysing the performance of bankless irrigation designs.

Though he enjoyed the work, Sagar had his eyes set on precision farming and applied for the McIntosh & Son regional role, as he believes this field is where the future of agriculture lies and wanted to be a part of it.

"I really think Australia is leading the charge when it comes to investing in farming technology," Sagar said.

"The labour rates are high, so we rely more on improving the machinery and investing in technology to do the job well."

"The next 5 years in agriculture will be interesting to watch, especially in Australia, as I can see that the adoption of productivity-enhancing new platforms and systems will really take off."

Sagar grew up on farming land back in India and cut his teeth driving tractors for hours on end for over 8 years.

"I would work for people and see that they had dodgy lines and bad productivity, so spent my time mapping and creating headlands to increase their productivity," said Sagar.

"The feeling you get once you see the results is awesome - and I knew that helping farmers increase their productivity was what I wanted to pursue."

"That's why this role excited me, I get to combine my experience, knowledge and interests."

Josh White, McIntosh & Son regional precision farming manager for the Northern group said Sagar hit the ground running when it came to finding data solutions.

"Sagar is brilliant with data management, and I can see that connecting PLMi will be his niche," Josh said.

"When someone has had data that is not easy to convert and connect with PLMi - Sagar has made it happen."

Josh said this has been helpful with a recent Woodside project.

"We're working with Woodside on a carbon-credit tree-planting project, and they had data that had not been able to work with their My New Holland."

"Sagar dug his teeth in and manipulated their data so everything can now connect, which was no easy task," Josh said.

"He's been a real asset to the team."

Having already spent time on farms with local growers, Sagar is excited to get farmers started on their precision farming journey.

"I see a lot of growers struggle with setting up their systems, so have started adding easy-to-follow tutorials to the McIntosh & Son YouTube channel," he said.

When asked what should be in a successful grower's toolbox this harvest, Sagar believes the IntelliView 12 screen (New Holland's newly released in cab tractor screen), MNet (McIntosh & Son's premium RTK service) and a CropScan 3300H protein meter are the tools for the job.

"[New Holland's] IntelliView 12 screen has such a user-friendly interface, it's easy to find everything, and it's easy to export data."

"Running your tractor on anything less is like trying to use iPhone 3 technology when your tractor is an iPhone 12 - there's just too much data to be able to process that quickly."

"MNet is fantastic, the idea that Josh has been pushing throughout the state in recent years to connect your GPS through the internet makes so much sense."

"You can have accurate data in real-time because of the direct access to internet - as opposed to RTK which would start dropping out after 10-kilometres or so."

"And finally, I think CropScan protein meters will have a big spike in demand over the next few months."

"It's so important to have access to insights into the quality of the grain you are harvesting, so you can get the best price on the market."

"Without it, you can't know your default rate of protein and quality of your grain."

Sagar is spending much of his time in the field and in cabs getting to know the local growers and will be at Dowerin Field Days next week with Josh White talking about all things Precision Farming.

Are you interested to know how McIntosh & Son can help you in your Precision Farming journey? Contact us today.