Two “Final Reports” about this project are available.
The report dated April 2016 commences thus: “The NRM Spatial Hub (the Hub) gives rangeland managers the capability to map, plan, analyse and monitor their properties infrastructure, land resources and ground cover to improve pastoral and natural resource management. The world-first technology underpinning the Hub will contribute significantly to the profitable and sustainable management of Australia’s rangelands. The Hub combines the latest cloud computing and geospatial mapping technologies with world-leading time-series satellite remote sensing, in a way that’s not been available to individual landholders before. For the first time, pastoralists can use and compare their data with government data in a secure, consistent and interactive way.
Users can now analyse and report on seasonal trends in ground cover within a paddock or across their entire property in less than 30 seconds. This is an Australian first and has been acknowledged by members of the global scientific community as a breakthrough in sustainable agriculture.
Due to the rapid development of the Hub infrastructure and the high level of interest shown by the grazing community, comprehensive demonstration of the technology was completed on more than 100 properties by late 2015, and more than 300 properties covering an area of more than 50 million hectares were using the system at the completion of this report in April 2016.”
At April 2025, the Hub’s website had closed down. Funding of one of its auspicing bodies the CRC for Spatial Information ended at 10 June 2018. The CRC’s resources library includes only a flyer about the project. QSN has uncovered a different flyer as well.
The Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries produced a different report INNOV-068-SISR-DAFF dated March 2016 authored by Giselle Whish et al.
The Meat and Livestock Australia website reports that after the completion of Stage I, a Stage 2 commenced, on 1 May 2016 and ended on 20 June 2017. The intention was primarily to transition to commercial funding away from government funding:
“This short term project was to continue to develop the NRM Spatial Hub as a service to adequately support existing grazing enterprises, NRM organisations and industry service providers during the term of the project.
Stage 1 of the initiative has been a success (Federal Government development and then ERM.0098).
The challenge is to transition to a delivery model which supplies a self-sustaining business that continues to foster collaboration, and provide long-term opportunities for industry growth and efficiency gains across government and regional bodies.
This Stage 2 project (managed by AWI with funding via MLA, AWI, CRC SI, and Fitzroy Basin NRM ) of the NRM Hub aimed to:
- consolidate the service for 350 properties currently using the Hub; Achieved
- extend the Hub services to new properties and new “champions” in southern grazing systems; Achieved
- The Hub team conducted user training across Qld, NSW, VIC and SA, and a number of webinar sessions for WA and TAS users. Over the last 12 months over 400 producers and extension staff have completed NRM Hub training in the last 12 months, excluding training undertaken by other extension staff.
- embed the Hub in existing extension and research programs; Not fully progressed.
- interact with NRM regional bodies; Achieved NRM Extension staff allocated to properties on request. Over 80 Extension staff are routinely using the Hub in support of programs. Around a third of these are intensive users, who are also training properties owners in the Hub’s use.
- to scope best practice extension and NRM use case development and transition the Hub into a sustainable and on-going business model. Achieved Draft Commercialisation Report delivered.”
In mid-2017 the Hub moved to an “operational platform” and was renamed FarmMap4D.