AN AUSTRALIAN agtech company has launched what it believes is the world’s first purpose-built farm safety and biosecurity service delivered through WhatsApp and capable of operating over commercial satellite-to-mobile connectivity.

AirAgri’s new interface allows farmers, employees, contractors and visitors to complete property check-ins, report hazards and incidents, and record and escalate on-farm biosecurity concerns through a familiar WhatsApp conversation.

Information submitted through the channel is incorporated into AirAgri’s existing platform, providing property operators with a central record for follow-up, compliance and trace-back without requiring each field user to download and learn another dedicated farm application.

The service has been launched during National Biosecurity Week, held from August 24–30.

Familiar channel lowers adoption barrier

AirAgri founder James Diamond said the agricultural technology sector had delivered substantial advances, but adoption was still being held back by the practical realities of remote work.

Third-generation cattle producers James and Paul Diamond who developed AirAgri.

“For much of the digital-ag era, we have asked the farm to adapt to the software,” Mr Diamond said.

“That can mean another account, another licence, another password and another application that must be installed, updated and understood by every employee, contractor or visitor.

“Each of those steps sounds small, but together they create the point where participation falls away.”

WhatsApp is already familiar to millions of Australians. Australian Communications and Media Authority research found more than half of Australian adults had used the service during the preceding six months.

“Farmers already use WhatsApp to communicate with their teams,” Mr Diamond said.

“By bringing property check-ins, biosecurity notifications and hazard and incident reporting into that familiar channel, we remove the need for people to download and learn another dedicated farm app.

“We can turn an ordinary conversation into information the business can act on and a record it can find again when it matters.”

Taking reporting beyond the mobile tower

The launch follows Telstra’s July expansion of its satellite-to-mobile service from text messaging to a selection of lightweight applications, including WhatsApp.

Telstra’s Select Satellite Apps service allows eligible customers to use supported applications in many outdoor locations beyond its terrestrial mobile network, subject to device, plan, location and satellite availability.

At launch, satellite application access requires an iPhone 13 or newer or a Samsung Galaxy S26-family handset, an eligible Telstra Upfront or Business Mobile plan, current software and an installed, updated and logged-in WhatsApp account. Users must also be outdoors with a clear view of the sky.

The connection is designed for lightweight data and may be slower or intermittent. Telstra stresses that its satellite service is not an emergency service and cannot be used to contact Triple Zero directly.

AirAgri said its WhatsApp channel should similarly be viewed as an additional layer of access not a replacement for emergency procedures, appropriate remote-area safety equipment or its existing lone-worker monitoring devices.

“Connectivity changes what is technically possible, but simplicity is what changes adoption,” Mr Diamond said.

“For the first time, a worker with a compatible phone may be able to complete a familiar, lightweight safety or biosecurity process beyond the terrestrial network, without carrying another piece of communications hardware.”

From the top-pocket notebook to a usable record

Mr Diamond said farmers had been right to question whether each generation of digital technology was genuinely better than the notebook traditionally carried in a shirt pocket.

“If a new system takes longer, creates more work or becomes unavailable as soon as you leave mobile coverage, then it is reasonable for a farmer to question its value,” he said.

“Our job is to retain the simplicity of that notebook while making the information available to the people who need it.

“A hazard left in a group conversation can be forgotten. A visitor’s details written on loose paper can be lost. A structured record can be assigned, followed up and retrieved when an operator, auditor or regulator needs it.”

Visitor, vehicle and movement records can also assist authorities and producers with trace-back during a pest or disease response, according to Farm Biosecurity guidance.

AirAgri’s workflow records and escalates a concern within an agricultural operation. Suspected exotic pests or diseases must still be reported through the relevant government channels, including the Emergency Animal Disease and Exotic Plant Pest hotlines.

Built and tested on-farm

AirAgri was developed by James and Paul Diamond on their family’s Mansfield cattle and sheep property.

Over seven years, the company has expanded from digital property mapping and farm records into lone-worker monitoring, visitor and vehicle management, contractor induction, incident and hazard reporting, biosecurity, training and compliance.

Its technology is designed for businesses across cattle, broadacre cropping, horticulture and other agricultural sectors.

In 2024, AirAgri received the 2023 WorkSafe Award for Commitment to Workplace Health and Safety on a Farm.

The latest Farmsafe Australia report recorded 53 deaths and 182 serious injuries on Australian farms during 2025, reinforcing the need for safety systems that people can use consistently under working conditions.

AirAgri said early internal testing of the WhatsApp channel had produced an immediate increase in participation in property check-ins and safety and biosecurity reporting.

“Technology alone does not create a safer or more biosecure farm. Participation does,” Mr Diamond said.

“Biosecurity and safety are shared responsibilities. If we can remove the friction and make the right action the easiest action, more people can do the right thing at the right time.”

AirAgri said it now intended to engage agricultural enterprises, government agencies, industry bodies, insurers and research organisations about expanding the model across Australian agriculture.