Does Pasture.io Replace Farm Walks, Plate Meters, or Other Measuring Tools?
This article explains how Pasture.io works alongside manual pasture measurements and other on-farm tools.
Pasture.io is designed to give you a clearer view of pasture cover and growth across your farm, without needing to manually measure every paddock as often.
For many farmers, this means they can reduce routine farm walks or use manual measurements less often. However, if you still want to use a plate meter, tow-behind meter, phone camera tool, visual assessment, or another measuring method, you can continue to do so.
You can also enter those measurements into Pasture.io, helping keep your pasture records in one place.
How Pasture.io supports pasture decisions
Pio uses satellite imagery, local weather data, farm records, and modelling to help estimate pasture cover and growth across your farm.
This helps you:
- track pasture trends over time
- compare paddocks
- see what is changing across the farm
- support grazing and feed allocation decisions
- decide where a manual check may be most useful
The aim is not to remove your knowledge of the farm. The aim is to give you another useful layer of information to support better decisions.
Can I still enter manual measurements?
Yes. You can enter pasture measurements into Pasture.io. Read this article to find out how.
This may include readings from:
- a rising plate meter
- a tow-behind pasture meter
- cut-and-weigh samples
- phone camera measurement tools
- visual assessments
- other pasture measuring devices or methods
Entering these measurements can help you keep your records in one place and provide an on-farm reference point alongside Pio’s pasture readings.
When manual measurements are useful
Manual measurements can be especially useful when:
- you are first setting up your farm in Pasture.io
- you want to build confidence in the trends
- a reading does not match what you are seeing on farm
- you are checking a specific paddock before grazing
- you are comparing Pio with an existing measuring method
- there has been unusual weather, growth, or grazing conditions
You do not need to manually measure every paddock all the time to use Pasture.io. However, occasional manual checks can be useful where they add value.
How to think about different measurement methods
Every pasture measuring method has strengths and limitations.
A plate meter, tow-behind meter, phone camera tool, visual assessment, or satellite-backed reading may each give slightly different numbers because they use different methods, formulas, or sampling approaches.
That does not always mean one is right and the other is wrong.
The most useful approach is to look at trends over time, keep records consistent, and use the information to support practical grazing decisions.
Take-home message
Pasture.io is designed to reduce the need for routine manual pasture measuring by giving you regular pasture insights across your farm.
You can use Pasture.io on its own, or alongside farm walks, plate meters, phone camera tools, or other measuring methods.
Any manual measurements you do take can be entered into Pasture.io, helping keep your pasture records in one place.