Non-invasive handheld bale moisture sensor for the Australian export fodder industry

Australia’s fodder industry is significant, with 1.2 million tonnes of hay exported in 2020, at an export value of AUD584million, more than doubling the 2006-07 value of exports of AUD242million.

The moisture content of the bale is a critical aspect for fire risk, since high moisture content may lead to self-ignition, and impacts nutritional quality. Accurate, easy-to-use and widely adoptable bale moisture sensing technology is therefore critical to ensure safety and to maintain Australia’s reputation as high-quality export fodder provider.

Existing moisture sensing solutions for bales include high-cost, fully automated whole truckload detection systems and stick-probe handheld devices. Fully automated systems are only affordable for large-scale operations while the inexpensive stick-probes are challenging to insert into increasingly dense bales.

This project will develop a cost-effective, non-invasive, handheld bale moisture tool, utilising novel time domain reflectometry (TDR) sensor technology.