Using digital technologies for profitability and efficiency gains

MLA has hand-picked these three presentations from the recent Australian Red Meat Industry’s Digital Forum to showcase how producers can harness the latest technologies to improve their operations.

Mark Branson: The use of digital technologies on Branson Farm

Mark Branson runs a cropping and sheep operation in South Australia and has calculated that the suite of tools he uses saves his business approximately $50,000/year. He stresses that choosing the right tools is the first, and most important, consideration. He says digital technologies offer producers unprecedented freedom of movement and access to information, and he shares how he uses GPS, ‘on the go’ biomass sensors and drones along with integrated programs to increase cropping yields through targeted nutrient calibration, seeding density and weed reduction.

Peter Richardson: Data sharing and interoperability for decision support in grazing

Grazing management tools that use hard data to maintain optimum stocking rates and help producers make efficient, profitable decisions are already here, but Peter Richardson from Australian based Maia Technology believes "ag interoperability" will drive greater efficiency. He discusses using the cloud to enable multi-user access to data from various platforms and discusses one possible vision for Australian ag interoperability.

Dr Drewe Ferguson: An Australian perspective on big data

Precision agriculture in the livestock industry lags compared with the cropping sector, but Dr Drewe Ferguson, CSIRO Research Director, states that the current buoyancy of agribusiness in Australia and the convergence of technology trends are set to transform livestock operations. Connectivity and automation, both on- and off-farm, will have the ability to track livestock health, genetics and performance, guarantee provenance to consumers and, ultimately, offer producers greater profitability for less labour.