Why It’s Important to Own an Automatic Farm Gate in Australia

Are you a farmer living in Australia? Have you been pondering whether or not an automatic gate would be beneficial to your daily workflow?

Well, it’s definitely something you should consider for a combination of reasons. We’ll be highlighting what these reasons are whilst outlining some of the many advantages of automatic farm gate openers. For rural farmers, who own large stretches of property, this non-electric gate technology is an affordable and increasingly valuable tool for farmers around the world.

Automatic Farm Gates in Outback Weather

From heavy rain to droughts, Australians experience a variety of weather changes over the course of a year.

People commonly refer to this arid zone, as ‘the outback’. This arid zone occupies 70% of the continent. Here are some general facts about the outback climate and weather:

• Outback summers are very hot.
• Winter is mild, even freezing in some places.
• Rainfall is low, following the summer monsoon in the tropical parts of the north.
• Some years, there’s little to no rain, and in others there are floods.
• Only two seasons: hot season and a cooler season.
• Winter is from June-August.

In the southern parts of the country/continent, heat waves and droughts are heavily impacting local farming communities. This hot and dry climate covers approximately 35% of the continent, receiving so little rain it is considered a “desert.”

Further, warm nights challenge pasture efforts and affect crop growth. Plants don’t recover well when temperatures remain consistently high. This will eventually have a profound impact on dairy cows that spend most of the day grazing. Furthermore, Australia is a major agricultural producer and exporter. Agriculture and farming earn $155 billion-a-year, accounting for 12% of the national GDP. There’s no doubt the hardest part of Australian farming is keeping crops and animals healthy.

Benefits of Gate Technology in Australia

An automatic farm gate comes in handy in bad weather and during the most inconvenient, or time-sensitive situations. By ensuring you never have to vacate the comfort of your vehicle, it saves time on the most redundant task in agriculture. It also saves money by costing less than 10% of what many high-maintenance gate technologies will cost you to own & maintain.

i) You won’t need to get out of your car

Winters aren’t a huge problem for Australians. Average temperatures may reach 30 °C (86 °F) in the summer, and 15 °C (59 °F) in winter. However, Victoria’s highest maximum temperature of 48.8 °C (119.8 °F) was recorded in Hopetoun on 7 February 2009. Summers are the real challenge we’re addressing. Many farmers don’t have airconditioned vehicles and work in the heat all day long. Heat-related illnesses and heat stroke can be a major challenge for farmers living and working under these conditions. Summer can be a real bummer when it gets that hot.

When temperatures reach 14 degrees Celsius (57 degrees Fahrenheit), it’s a warm welcome in the “Land Down Under.” While that is “nice weather” in certain places around Europe and America, it can be an annoyance to get out of your vehicle and manually open/close your property gate each time you return or leave, no matter the weather. The gate opener is convenient during winter, but most beneficial during summers when the temperatures become deadly to crops, cattle, and workers.

ii) Safety of farm animals is assured

About half of the total land in Australia is used for farming. This gives some insight as to the landscape of the country, and the economic value of farming operations. Most of the agricultural land is sparsely populated. Therefore, straying livestock might go unnoticed until it’s far too late. With insanely high temperatures, this can be a costly challenge for the average farmer. Without aerial recording technology, it can be impossible to keep an eye on all your cattle while tending to the other resources on your farm.

An automatic gate opener gets around that by helping you control exits and entrances. This ensures your animals stay within the farm boundaries, while also seeing that predators such as coyotes keep out. The animals aren’t really able to operate the technology and tend to move on after a peek at the gate, deeming it too hard to get past.

iii) Better feeding and general animal control

Automatic farm gate openers are useful all around the farm, especially in a sequence that controls animal movements.

For instance, in grazing fields where paddocking is practiced, you can usher cattle from one region to the next by means of such gates. You can even drive alongside cattle, and usher them through gated areas by simply nudging the gate with your bumper. Besides that, automatic gate openers can also be used to provide access to feeding and watering areas. This creates more follow through, as the animals feel autonomous and there is minimal need for human intervention.

A few more ways this gate technology can help you efficiently navigate on and off your property.

An automatic gate bolsters your farm’s aesthetic appeal. This might not be the main reason for purchasing an automatic gate. However, it’s an excellent add on to any property and simplifies the flow and convenience. It can be molded in a decorative fashion to improve the visual aspect of dilapidated fencing, without much investment.

It can also increase your property’s market value. Findings from a number of surveys conducted across the country have indicated that the overall value of a farm goes up by 5% when an automatic gate is installed.

Such complimentary features tend to go over well with potential buyers. If you’re open to the idea of a sale in the future, then automatic gates can help you get more for the time you’ve invested into your farm. Further, such accessories get good feedback from insurance companies. With an added property protection feature, it’s easy to get a rate reduction if you inform your insurance company.

Unauthorized vehicles and visitors keep out!

Manual gates allow for the free entry by anyone willing to get out and move the gate. However, automatic gates tend to be a deterrent because predators don’t understand how they work.  additionally, you won’t have to worry about uninvited guests, such as the neighbor’s pesky cattle, that want to graze on your land.

As you can see, an automatic gate opener proves an essential feature for various operations around the farm. It is, therefore, a crucial farm accessory for the profitable Aussie farmer that desires to make farm life more efficient.