Celebrating our young agricultural innovators

INNOVATIVE ideas to develop airborne disease detection and mapping for grain farmers, a smarter way to fence using your phone, and purifying abattoir water for reuse are among the 14 winning projects as part of the Coalition Government’s Science and Innovation Awards.

Minister for Agriculture and Water Resources David Littleproud said the winners would receive grants of up to $22,000 to further develop their ideas and boost Australia’s agriculture sector.

“These innovators are the ones who’ll keep Australian agriculture at the cutting edge,” Mr Littleproud said.

“These are practical ideas that will make farm businesses more efficient and provide greater protection against biosecurity threats.

“One project uses automation to quickly put in farm fencing.

“The Smart Fencer automatically drives fence posts and runs wire while you tow it behind a ute.

“This project could slash the time and labour needed for fencing farms.”

Mr Littleproud said another project was developing real-time airborne disease detection and mapping it for grain farmers, which would help farmers protect their crops more effectively and reduce losses.

“Another is looking at recycling abattoir wastewater with plasma to remove waste products,” he said.

“All projects have big potential and we want to see them reach their goals.

“One project will also win the Minister’s Award with another $22,000 to help deliver the project.”

The Science Awards will be presented at a gala dinner as part of the ABARES Outlook conference 2019 from March 5-6.

The awards started in 2001 and have supported 250 innovators with $4 million in grants.

For more information, visit www.agriculture.gov.au.