Project leader of the CSIRO's ICT center, Dr Tim Wark said as water and labor get scarcer and more costly, the viability and sustainability of Australia's agricultural industry hinges on better utilization of resources.

"A key factor in this process is the availability of timely, accurate information and know-how that can revolutionize how daily management decisions are made," Wark said.

WSNs are a rapidly growing area of research and provide access to environmental information in greater detail than ever before possible. A WSN comprises a group of "nodes" each measuring a variable, for example soil moisture, which wirelessly interact with its neighbors creating an ad hoc network which passes information to a central database.

By covering a farm with these nodes, Wark said farmers can always have an accurate picture of soil moisture levels to determine the most effective irrigation needs for a field.

"We are also investigating the potential of WSNs for monitoring and understanding cattle behavior," he said.