In the heart of Victoria’s Wimmera region, a quiet revolution is taking place beneath the surface—literally.

For years, Wimmera farmers have relied on instinct, experience, and the occasional phone call to a neighbor to gauge moisture in the soil. But now, thanks to a growing network of soil moisture probes and weather stations, many farmers are tapping into a new layer of insight—assisting how they farm, plan, and prepare for the seasons ahead.

In 2021 farmer Matt Rohde installed one of six soil moisture probes and weather stations on his property to access better soil moisture data, with the probes going down to 1.2 metres.  

“Water holding capacity is something that becomes available as the data set matures and the site has experienced the two extremes of saturation and dry. You can then start calculating soil moisture as percentage of water holding capacity”, Matt noted. 

Identifying where soil moisture levels are at compared to previous seasons helped Matt weigh up some of the risks and assisted in planning his nitrogen strategy.  “Being able to track soil moisture throughout the season is also really useful, and it can help us work out target yields for crops and what level of risk we are facing in terms of moisture levels as we move forward through to harvest.”

In 2023 Wimmera CMA and partners helped install probes and weather stations across 30,000 square kilometres, building on early efforts by farmer groups in Woorak, Wonwondah, and Perennial Pasture Systems. The Wimmera soil moisture and weather station network now feeds real-time data into a central portal—tracking everything from soil moisture and temperature to wind direction, rainfall, and harvest fire danger index.

The real power of the system isn’t just in the numbers—it’s in the people. More and more farmers across the region are learning to interpret the data together, sharing insights and strategies.

The Soil Moisture Probe portal is a hub for knowledge exchange. With case studies, webinars, and regular updates, it’s helping farmers make more informed decisions—whether it’s when to sow, when to spray, how to plan their nitrogen strategy, when to pull up the header on a fire risk day, and importantly, with a dry start to the sowing this Autumn, soil moisture data can assist crop selection.