Ep 33:Talking Soil Probes with Sentek

EPISODE 33:

Soil moisture probes were one of the first pieces of agtech used by farmers but things have changed since the 1990s. 

In this episode we hear about how soil moisture probes are informing growers on soil temperature and fertility, how they can be integrated with other sensors, and how data can be sent wirelessly straight to your phone.  

Liam Southam-Rogers from Applied Horticultural Research gives an overview on some common challenges growers face when adopting the technology, including the pitfall of installing too many probes.   

We’ll also hear from Medi Zaboli from Sentek. Founded more than 30 years ago in South Australia, the company is now a world leader in soil moisture technology and its probes are used in hundreds of different types of crops in more than 80 countries.

Supply chain manager for WA based Galati Brothers Frank Merenda has been using Sentek’s Drill and Drop probes in a protected cropping operation, growing Mediterranean vegetables just outside of Perth.  

FEATURING:

LIAM SOUTHAM-ROGERS – APPLIED HORTICULTURAL RESEARCH TECH ADOPTION SPECIALIST

Liam is an environmental scientist with a focus on sustainability in the horticultural industry through new types of technology, integration of technology and market drivers for sustainability. Since graduating from the University of Wollongong Liam has concentrated on sustainability projects such as on-farm power generation, and the impact of subsurface drip irrigation and soil health on greenhouse gas emissions and productivity of processing tomatoes. 

MEDI ZABOLI – SENTEK  

Medi Zaboli is the Australian/New Zealand and Middle East Regional Manager for Sentek. Medi was born in North Iran and migrated to Australia in 2003. He worked for the SA Agriculture Dep in the Mallee and regional SA as a research and extension agronomist, prior to joining Sentek in 2020. He also runs his hobby pomegranate and fig farm in the Adelaide hills.  

FRANK MERENDA – SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGER  

Frank has over forty years of agri-business experience, as a farm owner/Director in large scale broadacre vegetable farming and nationally as a consultant to some of Australia’s leading agri-business operations. Frank has developed extensive networks in the agribusiness sector and has extensive experience in end-to-end supply chain management including strategic commercial production, marketing and food processing industries. He’s currently supply chain manager at Galati Brothers where he is using Sentek probes in several projects, including within a protected cropping operation growing Mediterranean vegetables.