In the first of our two-part Hay Innovators series on the Feed Central Hay Matters Podcast, Jon Paul Driver sits down with Louis Kelly, Chairman of the Australian Fodder Industry Association (AFIA), and Bryce Riddell, the creator of HayShepherd, a groundbreaking system for monitoring hay sheds. The conversation covers critical developments from the AFIA conference, new technologies transforming hay farming, and the challenges and opportunities facing the fodder industry in Australia. Bryce Riddell introduces the HayShepherd system, developed to prevent hay shed fires by monitoring temperature changes in stored hay bales.

• Louis Kelly talks about the role of AFIA in the hay industry, particularly in driving collaboration between farmers and innovators.
• Technology and innovation, while often incremental, can lead to significant changes in farm operations over time.
• Bryce Riddell joins the podcast to introduce the HayShepherd monitoring system, explaining how it was developed to detect temperature changes that indicate a risk of spontaneous combustion in hay sheds.
• The increasing cost of insurance for hay sheds and technological solutions, like HayShepherd, are now critical for mitigating risk and keeping insurance costs manageable.
• The hay sector must adapt to both environmental changes and market pressures, and the role technology will play in this transformation.
• HayShepherd works through sensors placed in the hay shed to monitor temperature variations between bales and the shed’s control temperature, with real-time alerts sent to farmers.
• The system was initially developed to meet strict insurance demands but has since become a critical tool for large-scale hay operations.
• The system can scale for use in large hay operations, with sensors spread throughout sheds to pinpoint problem areas.