Farmers + Big Data = > Productivity

Big data in Australian agriculture is here to stay.

The benefits of big data to increasing productivity are real but, according to Delta Agribusiness (Delta Ag), the accessibility, affordability and useability of the precision ag technology needs to be as well.

“In what we see as a real acknowledgement of the benefits technological innovations offer, Delta Ag recently had the opportunity to join the Prime Minister, the Hon Malcolm Turnbull MP, in an online interview to discuss the advances Farmers Edge® and DAWWN give our farmers,” says Delta Agribusiness Managing Director, Gerard Hines.

Delta Agribusiness is fully embracing the possibilities new data-driven technologies offer agriculture by making sure their own innovations - Delta Automated Weather & Water Network (DAWWN) and the Canadian originated Farmers Edge® Precisions Solutions package – are not only available to farmers, but are accessible, affordable and easy to utilise.

Delta Ag has recently launched Discovery Ag, a wholly owned subsidiary, to roll these new ag technologies out in key production areas across the Australian market.

The value of innovations like DAWWN and Farmers Edge® to agricultural productivity are being recognised on a national scale.

Delta Ag is now engaging with growers across its current New South Wales footprint, in the lead up to the winter cropping season to educate them on the benefits DAWWN and Farmers Edge® can offer. These game changing technology offerings will be expanded in terms of additional decision making tools, and across broader key production regions, from 2017 onwards.

“We noticed that while there were a lot of products on the market, many precision ag tools were expensive, needed additional components, or required a lot of time to master. As a result, the take up of precision ag services hasn’t been as significant as it could be,” says Delta Ag Managing Director, Gerard Hines.

“We’re explaining to farmers that DAWWN and Farmers Edge® are now providing accessible, affordable smart solutions, and can be easily used by farmers in the decisions they make every day as an effective and proven means of increasing productivity.”

The DAWWN project allows farmers to tap into much closer and more detailed weather data. When combined with their own, real time soil moisture probe information, DAWWN allows farmers to dramatically enhance in-season decision making and overall risk management.

With Farmers Edge®, a producer can build up a variable expenses and profit map which shows what they make using their current approach, or what they can make by applying precision agriculture.

“Small decisions add up over a lifetime. A 35 year old farmer taking over the reins, retiring at 65, will only have 30 opportunities to grow a crop, requiring multiple decisions about variety, dates, selling and so on – but that’s a lot of decisions and a lot of opportunities to increase productivity.

“Based on ABARES data, which demonstrates average broadacre farm productivity has plateaued at less than 1% per year over the past decade, it is critical to make each of those management decisions better and stronger. We are absolutely confident that these tools will all contribute to making consistently smarter decisions, leading to a significant impact on farm profit and sustainability over time.”