INTERVIEW : Alice Armitage IMAGES : Maddie Brown

Luke Chaplain is a man of many talents. From his years as a pro bronc rider in Canada to the internationally recognised film company he runs with his sister, Luke isn’t short of accomplishment or accolade. But his recent endeavour, SkyKelpie, is another impressive feather in his cap. This drone mustering and aerial stockmanship startup is enabling livestock handlers to unlock the benefits of this technology, backed by Luke’s own experiences as a fourth generation grazier from North West Queensland.

Luke, can you start from the beginning? Give us your life story.

I was born on the 28th of December 1989 at around 9:00pm, for anyone who’d like to chart my astrology. I grew up on our family farm near Cloncurry in North West Queensland and then, like so many country kids, went away to boarding school. After school, I spent most of my twenties moving around which kicked off with a gap year in England. When I got back to Australia I headed to the Gulf of Carpentaria to work on a property. I worked under some incredible people while I was there. They had so much patience and took the time to nurture young people and that built such a strong foundation for my own stockmanship. I worked there for two years and it’s where I really started to understand and apply low stress stock handling methods, which are not only ethically good but also much better for production outcomes. You get a lot more out of your animals for sure. How did you go from that to being on the pro rodeo circuit in Canada? I started riding broncs when I was nineteen, while working in the Gulf. The whole stock camp would go to the local rodeos and campdrafts for a social outing. As a bit of a bonding exercise we’d all have a go. I guess I had a bit of a natural knack to it but also found it very exciting. Then I just worked very hard at it, my first stint of rodeo in Canada was in 2012 and then again in 2019. My biggest achievement there was winning the Festival de Western in Quebec. Other than that I made the Australian national finals in the APRA three times, I was Rookie of the Year one year and the Australian champion in the National Rodeo Council Competition. I think that competing in competitive sports can really set you up with attributes that also lend to being good in business. You need a strong work ethic, you need to make plenty of sacrifices and you’ve got to have your eye on the prize. So I hope that’s true for me and that those skills will translate into growing a strong business.

And how did SkyeKelpie first come about?

I was studying at Marcus Oldham College in 2017 and one day while a friend and I weren’t really paying attention in class, I started to think about how drones could be applied in a stock handling setting. At that time, drones had been around for a while but the technology was really starting to ramp up and the introduction of thermal cameras really piqued my interest. The idea just stuck with me. That year I bought a really cheap drone when I was in Hong Kong, I wound my way through a few interesting back alleys and almost missed my plane trying to get it! I crashed that one in the paddock pretty quickly but it was fun and it kind of worked. From there I kept experimenting with equipment until I found myself in the Farmers2Founders Hatch program.

As an accidental entrepreneur how did you find that program? Being in the arena with other business builders?

I went into that program in 2020. So it was a COVID course and really great for building a network of like-minded individuals at a time when that wasn’t easy! I learnt so much about the whole startup and entrepreneurial journey, and even just the literacy of it all. Sometimes the whole startup world feels like it speaks a different language, so I learnt to talk the talk as well and how to start to walk the walk throughout that time.

Other than the Hatch program, have you done other work with Farmers2Founders?

I’ve just completed the Hone program, which is almost like the next step for founders. The whole idea is that you really spend time validating your solution to make sure you’re building something that will actually be useful instead of spending lots of time and money building something that no one really wants. Then getting a minimum viable product to market to test with real customers. Throughout the whole process of building SkyeKelpie I’ve been supported by the team at Farmers2Founders - it’s been brilliant and I hope I’ll be accepted into the next phase of their programs, the Harvest Accelerator program.

You’ve recently been awarded the very prestigious Nuffield Farming Scholarship, but it actually took you a couple of goes to get it. Please explain.

I missed out the first time I applied, which I like to talk about because you learn so much from going through a process like that and instead of looking at it like you’ve failed, you should be applying those learnings to doing a better job the next time. The first time around I made it to the final interviews, but I was actually in a bakery when my final interview started. Somehow I got the times mixed up and by the time I made it back to the interview I was pretty hot, sweaty and worked up! I went back for interviews again the next year and was much better prepared.

You’ve run some pretty impressive trials with SkyKelpie recently – how have you made those opportunities

happen?

I’ve been in contact with Meat & Livestock Australia for a while and they wanted to do some trials around drone mustering because it was something that they identified as a beneficial opportunity for the industry. They had done some drone trials in the past that identified drones had a strong use case on-farm and that mustering was probably one of the closest adoptable solutions. We undertook some further trials with MLA and Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries. We wanted to prove that with current technology and working within current regulations, that drone mustering worked and was a viable option for farmers. We had really great results and the reaction that we found livestock had to the drones is really amazing. There are some barriers in place that we see towards widespread adoption but as with all things, there is always room for improvement including how to educate farmers on using drones. We’re now working on a number of online training tools that will empower livestock handlers to fly drones themselves and to feel comfortable using them to move their livestock. I’m far from the first person in the world to be working with drones as they apply to livestock and agriculture but I think we have the appetite to support commercial and widespread adoption across the industry.

How are you juggling spending time at home on the farm and on your other projects as well as SkyKelpie?

When it comes to being at home, I’ve been back and forth since leaving Marcus in 2018. We have property near Cloncurry and Julia Creek as well as a block south of Toowoomba. I’m always on deck for our two bigger rounds of mustering each year. The best thing about that is it’s always a great way for me to test new technology or practices I’ve been developing with SkyKelpie in conjunction with our mustering. Some of our country is hard to access, thick timber that historically would need choppers to muster properly and that’s now all done with drones. The old man is becoming pretty reliant on drones which is nice validation! As far as the business of the farm goes, I’ve been let in a little bit and I’m getting to have a say in some of the management decisions. I’ve also got some cattle of my own these days. When I’m not there, I spend a fair bit of time in Brisbane working on SkyKelpie and other things.

As someone who is working on the family farm as well as something else, how do you hope you’re contributing to the agricultural industry at large?

I really do feel that drone technology is going to have huge productivity and safety benefits for the industry and I hope we’re playing a part in making that a reality. I also want to promote inclusivity and make agriculture more accessible to everyone. We’re seeing labour shortages across all sectors and being able to offer a more diverse array of jobs, not just the traditional farmhand, across the sector is going to have an impact. Upskilling those who have existing agricultural knowledge and experience is also going to build a more resilient industry for us all.

What is the biggest challenge that you’re facing in the business at the moment with SkyKelpie?

Navigating the regulations set by the Civil Aviation Safety Authority is really tricky. At the moment, there is a rule that landholders can use drones on their property without a drone licence or special land permits. But that brings with it limitations, one being that drones can only be flown within a visual line of sight. We see a lot of other use cases for drones, such as drone deliveries in urban centres, that probably doesn’t make a whole lot of sense when you look at it under the regulation microscope. So we’re doing what we can to change the hearts and minds of the regulatory body. Anything we’re working on is focused on very rural locations with low air and ground risk, and I think it’s a really good opportunity for the regulator to make some changes with great benefit to an industry.

In the midst of everything you’ve been doing with SkyKelpie, you’ve also created an internationally recognised short film, The Bank Manager. How on earth did that come about?

I did some work in the film industry in my twenties, I’ve done some acting and some stunt work. During a stint in Cloncurry I helped the local council get the production of Survivor moved to the area. It brought a lot of interest and economic benefit. I realised that the council had a pretty keen interest in film making and how it could continue to benefit the region, so I went to them with the idea of creating a short film about a historical true story that happened in Cloncurry. My sister and I co-wrote The Bank Manager, the film was shot last September with almost an entirely Queensland based cast and crew. It’s pretty exciting to see it being well received. We’ve just been announced at the Australian Independent Film Festival that screens in Brisbane and we’ve also been nominated for Best World Showcase Short in the Soho International Film Festival. I’ve got a few fresh ideas in the pipeline and hoping to keep the film making happening too.

Being a solo founder like you are with SkyKelpie, or working on creative projects like you do with your work in film, can be really isolating but you seem to have almost intuitively built relationships with some really powerful networks. How did you know that was something you’d need and how did you seek them out?

Maybe the secret to success there is being as prepared as possible before you approach those people. It’s all the work that you do while no-one is watching that counts I think. I didn’t approach anyone with just an idea, I did my best to use my initiative to show how my idea could work and to bring them validation before asking for support.

This piece was created in collaboration with Farmers2Founders and you can learn more about their work here: www.farmers2founders.com