Why we built TerraCast

A vineyard isn't one thing. It's hundreds of microclimates wrapped around the same trellis. The cold pocket at the bottom of the slope. The row that gets reflected heat off the access track. The corner that always picks up botrytis first.

The tools most growers use today average that variability away. A satellite pixel that covers Block 7 also covers Block 8 and most of the road. A weather station two kilometres away tells you the region's weather, not yours. A pair of expensive in-ground sensors give you readings, for two points, on a property with hundreds.

We wanted to see if we could do better. Cheap, rugged, wireless sensors put where the land actually varies. A real-time pipeline that doesn't lag. AI that understands viticulture, pomology and oliviculture rather than just statistics. And the record of the work alongside the readings, so the system knows what was done and not only what it advised. Hardware bundled into the subscription, so a vineyard manager doesn't have to write a capex case to get started.

That's what TerraCast is. Eyes on every part of your land, around the clock, with software that tells you what to do when something changes.

The NoLag connection

TerraCast streams data through a real-time messaging platform we built ourselves, called NoLag.

That's an architectural advantage and we don't hide it. Owning the transport rather than renting it is the difference between real-time as a word on a page and real-time as something we can hold ourselves to. When a soil moisture probe in Block 7 drops below threshold, your dashboard sees it the same second — and when it needs to be faster, we change our own code instead of filing a ticket with a vendor.

What we believe about land

Four things that shape every decision we make.

  1. 01

    Land is variable.

    Averages lie. The interesting signal is always at the edge of a block, not the centre. Build for variability.

  2. 02

    A reading is not a decision.

    Measuring the block is the easy half. What it means for this cultivar, at this stage, this week — and what doing something about it costs — is the half that earns its keep.

  3. 03

    Your data is yours.

    Per-account isolation, end to end. We never sell it and never expose it to another customer, and it leaves with you if you do.

  4. 04

    Software supports expertise, it doesn't replace it.

    You know your land better than any model ever will. Our job is to give you better information faster, then get out of the way.

Where we are now

We're early. We're working with our first vineyard partners across the Margaret River and Yarra Valley regions.

That means a couple of things. The good: every customer right now is talking to the founders. Feature requests get heard. Deployments get attention. The honest: we don't have a long list of testimonials yet, and we'd rather show you a real pilot than fabricate a quote.

If you'd like to be one of the first vineyards or sites we work with, and have unusual access while we're small, get in touch.

Founder photo
Commissioned portrait, outdoors, in a vineyard, daylight.
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