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It's no longer science fiction, Aussie farmers are increasingly turning to tech for help in the global competition to increase production efficiency.
A new generation of innovative thinkers is fast-tracking that progress through the national SproutX Accelerator program which targets the development of agricultural technologies (agtech).
An initiative of the National Farmer's Federation and financial services firm, Findex, the SproutX Accelerator fast-tracks agtech companies' path to commercialisation through coaching and industry connections. Crucially, it is backed by co-investment from business such as national agribusiness Ruralco which help identify and nurture the future of farming and agricultural innovation.
Each annual cohort accepts up to 10 companies, which also receive $40,000 in investment from the $10 million SproutX Venture Fund which invests in early stage agtech startups with a combination of an established team, demonstrated traction and market demand.
SproutX head of operations Julia Waite said every year she was impressed by the diversity and high quality of founders changing the way agriculture works in Australia.
"We consider agtech startups for investment in all segments of the supply chain from farmgate to plate. The technology is as varied as the solutions targeted, ranging from well-designed apps for agritourism, on-farm sensors for decision making, through to significantly large-scale hardware," Ms Waite said.
SproutX is in its third year of operation and will soon announce a new cohort of startups for 2019.
"We have put agtech in the startup consciousness in Australia and propelled 19 new Aussie startups to seed funding round or expand their revenue potential," Ms Waite said.
Investor interest is gaining momentum, with Artesian Capital, who manage the SproutX $10 million SproutX venture capital fund have once again shown their further demonstrating their interest in the agriculture sector having recently launched GrainInnovate, a $50 million fund in collaboration with the Grains Research and Development Council Corporation (GRDC) for broad-acre deals cropping-related opportunities.
Robotic automation has proven a strong theme in companies applying to the program this year. Many are targeting tasks in labour-intensive industries which are still unmet by technology, most notably in the horticulture sector.
Labour can comprise up to 45-60 per cent of operational expenses for a horticultural enterprise, particularly those managing the seasonal flux of harvest pickers. Finding and attracting a reliable labour force is an incredible challenge, which brings with it a complex suite of risks, liability, financial and time cost for the producer. There is a lot of activity in the early prototype phase, for robotics within Australia.
If there is a race in agtech it would appear to be here: for safe, reliable and cost competitive automation of manual picking, while ensuring quality of fruit isn't compromised by non-human hands.
Australia isn't the only nation racing to bring the right technologies to agriculture and the great hope for our innovations is that they are applicable worldwide. When you consider the extreme conditions that challenge Australian farming, Ms Waite believes we do have a theoretical advantage for testing agtech over other regions in the globe.
"We have an advantageous testing ground for technology because we're operating in tight margins; due to Australia's variable climate, cost of labour and minimal-to-no production subsidies for farming."
Development of agtech holds the key to sustainable agriculture, not just locally but globally. There is more to learn about the new generation of agtech innovators online at the SproutX website - from Snaptrap's artificial intelligence powered fruit fly traps through to Provenir's vertically integrated meat processing company.
Producers can also register their farm with SproutX Pioneers, an early adopter network that will be scaling up this year after launching as a pilot project in 2018.
The future of agriculture is grown at home, Australian made.