Changing the water-monitoring game for ranchers
Three years after moving from Australia to Texas, Andrew Coppin—who grew up on ranches himself—still has his down-under accent. He moved to expand his business, Ranch-bot, which sells water monitoring systems to ranchers—a “game-changer,” he calls it.
Ranch-bot helps automate the water-monitoring side of ranching, by installing sensors, monitors and flow meters to tanks, troughs, pipes, and other water sources serving livestock, and connecting them all to a central device—via satellite signal. The system has been successful in his home country where, according to Coppin, about 10% of all ranches and livestock operations use it, and it continues to grow.
Ranch-bot’s products include water-level monitors, rain gauges, trough monitors, and remotely operated pump controls. “Being satellite-connected means you don’t need Wi-Fi or internet out on your property,” Coppin told High Plains Journal.
All sensor signals go to a central handheld device. The system can be customized for large or small operations.
The system “relieves the rancher of having to drive around all day checking on water,” Coppin said. “It’s event-triggered in real time. If a pipe or trough is leaking, it will instantly send you a message. It doesn’t just send you two data points a day at the same time. The problem with constantly driving out to check on your water trough is that two minutes after you leave it, you still don’t know what’s happening right now. These sensors let you know when something is happening. Even when you’re on holiday, you can still monitor the system from Hawaii or wherever.”
Before getting his equipment, ranchers tell him they check their water 3. 2 times a week, versus only 1. 2 times a week with Ranch-bot.
“With weather more volatile, people are experiencing flash floods as well as ‘flash droughts.’ Our remotely controlled pumps are automating flow and pressures.”
Coppin is eager to spread the benefits here. Ranch-bot sells through suppliers of pumps and tanks. “I have 20 resellers at the moment [in the U.S.],” concentrated in the Southwest and West. “But eventually it will be hundreds. No one ever goes back once they try it. We have a two-year warranty and a money-back guarantee, but we never have to accept returned gear.” Ranch-bot has about 23 employees in Texas right now, and 70 in Australia.
Coppin says his company has a total of 35,000 devices in the field already. He’s convinced this will become the standard for all ranchers and livestock raisers.
Ranch-bot’s systems save vehicle wear and tear, labor costs, carbon emissions (from less driving) and time, the rancher’s most important resource, Coppin says.
He adds, “Of course, there’s nothing to stop you if you want to go out and smile at the cows.”
For more information, visit www.ranch-bot.com.
David Murray can be reached at [email protected].
