Wearable technology similar to the fitness trackers worn on human wrists is being trialled on cattle across remote northern Australia, as pastoralists and researchers work together to address one of the industry's most persistent problems — the loss of newborn calves. The devices, fitted to 140 cows at a Northern Territory station, are collecting data on maternal behaviour and herd movement in what could prove a significant step forward for the beef industry.

From pedal radios to iPads: how station life has changed

For Kim Forrester, who grew up at Winning Station in Western Australia's remote Gascoyne region, the transformation has been remarkable. As a child, his only link to the outside world was a pedal radio used for School of the Air. Today, he monitors water tank levels in his paddocks via a live stream on his mobile phone and reviews cattle data on a computer.

"Before was either on the motorbike or in the aeroplane or in a motor car and driving vast distances," Mr Forrester said. "Now we've got a pretty good handle on it from an iPad."

Mr Forrester manages more than 10,000 head of cattle across over 300,000 hectares near Coral Bay, roughly 1,100 kilometres north of Perth. Despite the scale of his operation, he says the push to embrace technology is not optional — it is a matter of survival.

"You're trying to operate with the least amount of labour you possibly can, purely to survive," he said, adding that the next decade of artificial intelligence development would bring further significant change to the sector.

Why AgTech adoption has lagged in northern Australia

While southern dairy operations were among the earliest adopters of agricultural technology, the north has faced a slower uptake. Distance, limited infrastructure and the sheer scale of properties have all posed significant hurdles.

Northern Territory Department of Agriculture and Fisheries livestock team leader Christie Pearson explained that the operating environment across northern Australia bears little resemblance to smaller southern properties.

"If you think about a standard property down south, you've probably got less than a couple of hundred head, or you've got animals that you can physically see in the paddock," Ms Pearson said. "Up here we're still having contracting camps out, we're still mustering, we're still using helicopters."

Fitbit-style devices tracking cow behaviour and calf loss

At Manbulloo Station, just outside Katherine in the Northern Territory, Ms Pearson is overseeing a trial involving 140 cows wearing ear tags and GPS collars — devices that function much like the Fitbit activity monitors many Australians use to track their own exercise and health data.

The wearable technology monitors a range of behaviours including time spent ruminating and grazing, herd interactions, and how individual cows respond to the loss of a calf. The trial is part of Central Queensland University's "Mooternal" project, which is running across two northern pastoral properties.

Early findings have already revealed notable differences between individual animals. Some cows leave their newborn calves out in the paddock and travel to water alone for up to a week after calving before bringing the calf along. Others give birth close to the water source itself.

"There's some cows that leave their calves out in the paddock, and they walk into water for up to a week after calving before they'll bring their calf into the water," Ms Pearson said.

Researchers are using this granular behavioural data to better understand the circumstances surrounding calf loss — a challenge that has long cut into the profitability of northern cattle operations.

A digitising industry looks to the future

The trials at Manbulloo Station represent a broader shift underway across Australian agriculture, as producers and researchers increasingly look to data-driven tools to improve productivity and animal welfare on vast, difficult-to-manage properties. For pastoralists like Kim Forrester, who have witnessed decades of change, the pace of innovation shows no sign of slowing.

With AI and wearable animal technology both advancing rapidly, the cattle stations of northern Australia may look very different within a generation.