V.DIG.0026 - Development of an online Ag Tech ROI tool
Lack of clarity on the true costs and benefits of ag-tech is a well-documented barrier to the digitalisation of Australian agriculture, and yet the problem remains. The project aims to address this barrier.
| Project start date: | 29 December 2022 |
| Project end date: | 15 September 2024 |
| Publication date: | 16 August 2024 |
| Project status: | Completed |
| Livestock species: | Grain-fed Cattle, Grass-fed Cattle, Sheep, Goat, Lamb |
| Relevant regions: | National, Cold wet, Mediterranean, Tropical warm season wet, Sub-tropical moist |
Summary
The 'Capturing the value of ag-tech innovation on-farm' project built on previous work undertaken by Meat & Livestock Australia (MLA) to refine a cost benefit estimator tool for the adoption of on-farm ag-tech. The project further developed this prototype and developed a tool with producer input for greater adoption and enhanced user experience. The project was a partnership between the Southern NSW Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub (Hub) and MLA, with core funding from the Australian Government’s Agricultural Hubs Innovation Program.
Objectives
• looking at the value proposition of commercially available technology solutions in the red meat livestock industry and working with producers and advisers to capture the true operating costs and opportunity costs of different livestock farm operations
• developing algorithms to calculate the costs saved or the value created by commercially available technology solutions
• creating an easy-to-use and publicly accessible online portal for producers to input their own information to assess the value of different technologies in their own context.
Key findings
There is strong producer appetite for this tool with responses from producers and partners indicating that:
- the tool is beneficial, and they would recommend it to their neighbours
- the tool was easy to use, and they would likely continue to use it once it was available
- using the tool has made it much easier to understand the potential on-farm benefits of ag-tech
- the tool has great potential and further improvements would make it even more useful.
Benefits to industry
The immediate impact of the project is support for livestock producers in estimating the impact of ag-tech solutions on their farming operations, and ultimately it supports Australian producers in increasing efficiency and profitability through the deployment of technology. The tool can easily be applied across a range of agricultural sectors and geographies.
MLA action
• deployment of the tool and made available through myMLA
• provide ongoing support and maintenance of the tool
• continue to meet contract V.DIG.0026 requirements and licensing terms
• seek to support other agricultural sectors interested in the tool to be able to leverage off this investment.
Future research
There is a lot of potential to develop the tool further, particularly with regard to developing additional specific technology/use case assessment scenarios. However, this will require additional investment and needs to be carefully considered in the context of the MLA medium term strategy for providing and maintaining these types of adoption support tools. To support the uptake of the tool, future research and recommendations include:
• provide ongoing support and maintenance of the tool
• promote the capability of the tool, how it functions and the value proposition for producers
• continue to refine and improve the tool, which may include but not be limited to integrating with other tools (ag-tech Finder) and devices
• continue to investigate cross-sectoral opportunities to further develop the tool including access options for industries other than livestock
• continue to build producer trust in ag-tech by ensuring data privacy and security
• ensure broad interoperability between applications and devices and make it simple for businesses to operate
• seek support from other agricultural sectors who will be interested in the tool and can leverage this investment.
More information
| Project manager: | John McGuren |
| Contact email: | reports@mla.com.au |
| Primary researcher: | Southern NSW Drought Resilience Adoption and Innovation Hub |
