Mobile technology and sheep extension have combined to create an early version of the Lifetime Ewe Management Application for Apple iPhone.
Australian Wool Innovation (AWI) and Rural Industries Skill Training (RIST) have developed the prototype application for the popular Lifetime Ewe Management (LTEM) course. LTEM has now involved more than 2000 sheep producers managing over 20 per cent of the nation’s ewe flock or 8 million ewes.
The two-year nationally accredited course involves small groups of farmers learning from each other through on-farm facilitated activities such as condition scoring, pasture assessment and feed budgeting. The aim is to best match the energy requirements of animals with pasture production and supplementary feeding to maximise production.
About 300 woolgrowers at the Bestwool/Bestlamb Conference in Bendigo, Victoria were shown a live demonstration of the application. AWI will also be demonstrating the application at LambEx in Adelaide, South Australia on 10 & 11 July.
The LTEM Application is a natural evolution of the program after years of research and extension. AWI has been its principal funder, contributing about $10 million to the program and the initial research behind it.
The development of this technology has involved various farm visits and trials using existing Lifetime Ewe participants. Whilst still in development, AWI has now engaged a group of current LTEM facilitators and participants to trial and verify the application before it is formally released.
Once finalised, the LTEM Application will be available for both Apple and Android mobile devices.
To set up a LTEM group in your local area or to join a group in your area, call RIST on (03) 5573 0943 or visit www.rist.com.au.
For more information on LTEM, please see Learning about sheep nutrition.
Source: AWI
