Normalized claim
Cost: 50% decrease
Saved up to 50% of allocated water use for some equipment.
SCADAfarm optimizes irrigation and resource management for New Zealand farmers
Use case typeIrrigation optimizationUpdated Jun 13, 2026
Blackhills farm in New Zealand, managed by Craig Blackburn, exemplifies agricultural innovation blending tradition with cutting-edge technology. Faced with intense resource demands, Blackburn implemented SCADAfarm—a solution by WaterForce and Schneider Electric—built on Microsoft's Azure IoT platform to streamline irrigation and water management across 400 hectares of operations. The cloud-based SCADAfarm system enables remote control and real-time monitoring of pumps, irrigators, and field sensors, integrating weather station data for precise adjustments tailored to crops and soil conditions. Azure IoT Hub and Azure Cloud manage the data, providing advanced analytics for compliance, cost optimization, and yield management. Automated alerts and reporting capabilities have empowered the farm to reduce water and electricity use, maintain profitability, and adapt to environmental regulations. With enhanced efficiency, resource tracking, and sustainability, Blackhills farm increased fodder and barley yields while saving up to 50% of allocated water use in some operations. The project demonstrates how sustainable agriculture and technology partnerships drive transformation and future-readiness in the farming sector.
- Organization
- WaterForce
- Industry
- Agriculture
- Location
- New Zealand
- Published
- July 2017
Reported outcomes
−50%
costCost savings
Strategic outcomes
Risk & complianceEnsured environmental complianceCost efficiencyReduced water and electricity consumptionSpeed & agilityEnabled remote irrigation controlNew product / capabilityAdded real-time precision irrigation
Why do we believe this?Outcome claims, sources, and evidence checks
Why do we believe this deployment?Customer identity, provider attribution, maturity, and source checks
- Customer
- WaterForce, Blackhills farm
- Provider
- Microsoft
- Maturity
- Production
- Linked source
- news.microsoft.com
Reduced water and electricity consumption and operational costs
Customer identity supportedSource describes one deploymentMaturity supported
Primary read
Use case focus
Showing 3 of 3
- 1IoT-based Irrigation Optimization
- 2Remote Farm Resource Monitoring and Compliance
- 3Sustainable Agriculture Automation
- Complex water logistics and management on a 400-hectare, multi-crop farm.
- Need to optimize irrigation amid changing weather, regulation, and resource availability.
- Manual operation of equipment was time-consuming and inefficient.
- Farm requirements for profitability, sustainability, and compliance with strict environmental reporting.
- Implemented SCADAfarm IoT solution from WaterForce and Schneider Electric, hosted on Azure IoT Hub and Azure Cloud.
- Enabled farmers to remotely monitor and control pumps and irrigation systems via mobile devices.
- Integrated real-time data streams from field weather stations for adaptive and precision irrigation.
- Automated reporting and alerts ensured compliance, resource optimization, and cost savings.
Technologies
- Saved up to 50% of allocated water use for some equipment.
- Reduced water and electricity consumption and operational costs.
- Freed significant farmer time previously spent on manual checks and travel.
- Increased crop yields (fodder beet, barley) and ensured environmental compliance.
Architecture
SCADAfarm integrates sensors, pumps, and irrigators on Blackhills farm with Azure IoT Hub and Azure Cloud for real-time monitoring and control. Data streams from devices and weather stations are collected, analyzed, and visualized via the cloud, enabling remote management and automated reporting.
Implementation partners1
Sources & evidence1
Evidence: Medium65/100Evidence strength
- Customer explicitly identified
- Deployment status explicitly supported
- Independent source available
- Quantified outcome available
- Technical implementation details available
ExpandedExpanded
The same organization appears in newer AI deployment evidence.
- Same organization re-documented as recently as 2024.
Measures whether this deployment's public evidence persists — not whether the system is still in production.
Type: News ArticlePublished: Jul 10, 2017Publisher: news.microsoft.comEvidence: SecondaryConfidence: Low
AI-generated summary. Verify important details with the linked sources before relying on this case.
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