AI digs deep into future of Australian farming sector
Artificial intelligence, robotic vehicles and drones are transforming Australian farming to increase productivity, tackle labor shortages and increase sustainability.
But innovators say the agricultural technology (AgTech) industry needs stronger support to truly thrive, and that development depends on research, innovation and taking risks that translate into real-world impact.
Queensland-based company SwarmFarm Robotics made the breakthrough more than a decade ago by investing early in the promise of autonomous farming.
The company has explored how emerging technologies can play a key role in helping farming adapt to a changing climate and landscape.
“Breakthroughs don’t start by asking farmers what they want. They start by realizing what others think is fixed and cannot be changed,” said Andrew Bate, the company’s CEO and co-founder.
“Those moments not only built a company, but also revealed a different way of looking at things.”
Robotic technology is revolutionizing agriculture with technology that enables precision farming through automated planting, harvesting and crop monitoring, while also reducing labor costs and increasing productivity.
The technology aims to work with farmers and make their daily tasks easier.
As adoption of these tools becomes more widespread, Mr Bate said Australia’s Agri-Tech industry could be further strengthened by greater investment in research.
Speaking to a panel of innovators at AgriFutures Australia’s evokeAG event in Melbourne on Tuesday, he explained the research had the potential to elevate products and improve their quality.
George Peppou, CEO and co-founder of Vow, a food tech start-up specializing in cell-cultured meat, told the panel Australia’s innovation sector must embrace failure to take its next step.
“We do not have an innovation culture that embraces risk and tolerates failure very well,” he said.
Mr Peppou said AgTech development needed to be supported at government level, adding that Australia was a difficult place to launch a manufacturing start-up.
In terms of farming, Mr Bate said he was turned down many times in the early stages of setting up his business, adding that he and his team built 100 robots in a farm workshop before building a fully functional facility.
“Looking back, I see that this journey has strengthened us and taught us something; we now have IP in production,” he added.
Since its launch in 2012, the company has deployed autonomous robots to farmers who farm more than 5.1 million acres commercially.
Looking forward, Mr. Bate said innovators should continue to push ideas, even if they don’t make sense at first.
“When we optimize outside of inherited constraints, progress stops,” he said.
“SwarmFarm isn’t actually even about robots or autonomy; it’s a completely new farming system.”
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