Digital agriculture
Overview
Investments into digital agriculture research and development (R&D) aim to support and add value to many of MLA’s on-farm productivity initiatives and complement the work done to improve the flow of information across the value chain.
Digital agriculture focuses on whole-farm digital infrastructure technologies such as internet connectivity, drones and unmanned vehicles. It also addresses remote monitoring and management of key infrastructure, including watering points and fencing.
There is a significant opportunity to increase the overall rate of adoption of these R&D outcomes, through events such as workshops, product demonstrations and case studies that highlight the successful implementation of digital agriculture throughout the supply chain.
Core activities
Digital agriculture tools and technology initiatives include:
- improving connectivity for optimal use of digital technologies in remote locations
- developing technologies that reduce the need for on-farm labour, such as automated herding, monitoring and feeding
- developing digital information products and decision tools to provide predictive management systems
- creating autonomous ground and aerial vehicles for data collection to improve on-farm decision making
- establishing digital farm sites to demonstrate digital agriculture technologies and their value proposition to stakeholders.
Benefits to industry
- Digital technologies, connectivity and automation improves on- and off-farm management and efficiency through improved productivity, cost savings and the capability to manage remote business areas. This, in turn, assists with land and livestock management.
- These R&D investments also help to reduce labour, operational costs and on-farm risks by providing real-time data that enhances decision making.
- Digital agriculture tools and resources help producers make more informed business decisions regarding their livestock management, the transfer of data between different sections of their enterprise and workplace health and safety initiatives.
