Alice Butler

Alice holds a Bachelor of Science (Environmental Science) from the University of Western Australia and has worked as a Precision Agronomist with Farmanco for the past two years. She comes with eight years of experience within the grains industry and has contributed to the following GRDC Precision Ag Projects;  

• ‘DIY Precision Ag’ from 2014-2017 with SEPWA,  
• ‘Variable Rate Technology: Maximising Returns for Western Australian Grain Producers’ 2017 with SEPWA, and 
• ‘Hands on Precision Ag Training’ 2021 Farmanco was subcontracted by the Grower Group Alliance.  

 At Farmanco the Precision Ag (PA) team works as an extension of the agronomy service with direction from the farm management team. Alice manages her client’s spatial data using Agleader SMS, PCT AgCloud, QGIS, DataFarming, Google Earth, John Deere Operations Centre and Farmworks, as well as Decipher and Summit Connect for soil data. A starting point for all growers is setting up a master set of boundaries and run lines to help with monitor setups and allow the collection and creation of useful data. 

From there, Alice helps growers to better understand their paddock production and variability allowing the identification and investigation of yield constraints leading to a more strategic amelioration strategies and application of inputs through variable rate. Yield, soil survey, biomass imagery, plant tissue tests and soil samples are all used to help make management decisions. She has a range of experience on machinery brands including Case IH, New Holland, Claas, Agrifac, Trimble, Topcon and John Deere.  

The aim of her work is to maximise the return on fertiliser investment as well as manage the resource to yield potential, ultimately helping her client's businesses to be more profitable and sustainable.