Australia - Smart Farming

Synopsis

Initial studies indicate that tools such as cattle tags to track livestock, a range of sensor networks that measure water salinity, soil moisture and the heartbeat of oysters can help increase farming productivity in crop and pasture yields by targeting the use of water and fertilisers as well as in livestock production through better rotation of animals and pastures.

Cotton growers using the soil moisture sensors almost doubled their yields per megalitre of water when they vary irrigation rates according to the localised needs of the soil and plants, rather than taking the one-size-fits-all approach for a whole field.

New infrastructure such as IoT is going to revolutionise connectivity on the faqrm.

This report also looks at data and information provided by the CSIRO and others and also looks at the smart farm activities in Armidale.

Key developments

cattle tags, tracking livestock, sensor networks, access cam, M2M, Iot, broadband, NBN

Companies mentioned in this report

CSIRO, Australian Centre for Broadband Innovation, University of New England, Meat & Livestock Australia