THERE is a lot of hype about the benefits of digital agriculture to farmers, but much of the technology is still a long way off.
CSIRO agriculture and food researcher Michael Robertson said there was value in understanding what ag tech was coming over the horizon.
“Broadly defined, digital agriculture means the use of data in all sorts of forms to help farmers make better decisions,” Dr Robertson said.
“That data may come from satellites, sensors on farm, machinery, paddock management records, purchasing and sales records.”
Dr Robertson, who spoke at last week’s Liebe Spring Field Day, Kalannie, said when combined in new and different ways with other data from off-farm, this information could create new insights and management recommendations for growers.
“This capability is still some way off,” he said.
“However, that’s not stopping a lot of commentators by building up the expectations through hype about the potential of digital agriculture to change farming.
“It’s also important to understand some of the jargon being used along with the hype and interpret that in plain language.”
Dr Robertson assured growers at the field day that they could prepare for and understand the implications of digital agriculture on their farms.
These include understanding how their agronomist and consultant can work with them to identify important sources of data collected on the farm and its potential uses.
Dr Robertson was excited to explain how satellite data will be able to read moisture, protein and yield as it passes over farming land.
Although he warned that this technology, although useful to the agricultural sector, could bring bad news if in the hands of someone using it for commercial gain.
“Some farmers may not be ready to share that information, so the most important thing is to know who holds the key to your farm data,” he said.
