How can broadband help farmers?

Farming and the digital world may seem like strange bedfellows, but a new CSIRO report has shown that Australian farmers can increase their productivity by taking advantage of smart farming technologies enabled by next-generation broadband networks.

The report examines the potential impact of broadband and the digital economy, compiling research from a number of Australian agricultural projects which indicate that by connecting farms to broadband-enabled sensor networks, farmers will be able to take more control of their operations by analysing the wealth of information made available in easily accessible web tools.

Such sensor networks can measure “water salinity, soil moisture and even the heartbeat of oysters”, according to Colin Griffith, Director of the Australian Centre for Broadband Innovation (ACBI). Griffith says these breakthroughs are important given that food demand is “predicted to increase 50% in the next 20 years” - thus, productivity has to be massively increased at farm level.

Furthermore, farms of all different types could benefit from the technology. Griffith noted that wireless cattle tags can be used to track the position of livestock, so a farmer can see if they are making the most use of his/her pastures. It is just as useful in cotton farming - Griffith said he has seen “cotton growers using the soil moisture sensors almost doubling 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”.

Griffith said the increase in productivity will be especially appreciated given that the farmers won’t have to work any extra hours but will see greater returns on their work. Hollie Baillieu, Chair of the National Farmers’ Federation 2050 Committee, agrees with this, saying, “Not only will technology-driven productivity improvements help feed a growing population, but the innovations will also help improve farmers’ bottom line and led to more profitable farm businesses.

“It doesn’t matter whether we’re talking about a cattle grazier from the Northern Territory or an oyster farmer in Tasmania; the benefits of emerging technologies provide opportunities for the entire farming sector,” she said.

The ‘Smart Farming: leveraging the impact of broadband and the digital economy’ report will be officially launched to industry and government stakeholders during the Digital Rural Futures Conference on 26 June 2013. It can be viewed online here.