Case Study: DigiBale achieves farm automation and remote monitoring with Digi International's Farm Automation Starter Kit

Enabling Internet of Things Innovation in Agriculture

DigiBale, a commercial arm of Australian Wool Innovation, repackaged proven wool‑industry IoT know‑how to serve broader agriculture sectors like cotton, sugarcane and cattle. Their challenge was convincing diverse farmers — many wary of connected tech and the burden of one‑size‑fits‑all solutions — that IoT could be simple, robust, and relevant to their specific workflows, even in remote, off‑grid conditions.

They launched a Farm Automation Starter Kit (ConnectPort X2 gateway, three Digi XBee‑PRO 900HP modules, Digi Remote Manager subscription and a smartphone app) to create mid‑sized mesh networks for soil moisture, device scheduling and remote control. Priced at AU$699, the kit enabled rapid prototyping and delivered measurable results: sugarcane irrigation monitoring moving to full deployment, automated trough refills across 300 farms, and real‑time fertilizer guidance for crop dusting — giving farmers new data and simpler, more productive operations.

DigiBale

Marcus Majass

Digibale Solutions Architect