Plan to help farmers move ahead with tech innovation
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AG-TECH, innovation, disruptive technology, industry 4.0. Even as someone who is embedded in bringing new technology to our region, there is certainly a lot of hype around what these new technologies will offer.
What is exciting is that Toowoomba, the Darling Downs and Maranoa regions are at the very centre of this new technology discussion. This is due to our diversity as a region, not just in terms of production systems but also the large-scale investment across the entire supply chain.
Our challenge is turning this hype into reality.
This was a focus at our recent Intensive Animal Industry Conference in Dalby on March 7, and we as farmers and producers must continue to review and strive to make real progress.
For five years now we’ve seen significant growth in the ag-tech conferences, media attention and people willing to sell the hype, yet we’ve struggled to gain any real traction in investment and, more importantly, broad industry adoption of these new technologies.
There are some key points to consider for promises to turn into real change in our rural industries:
FARMERS NEED TO ASSIST IN THE EARLY STAGES OF INNOVATION TO VALIDATE THE IDEAS.
We’ve all heard of new technology ideas that are close to the mark but not quite there. The idea sounds great but lacks the specifics to convince us to invest in the technology.
In most cases these ideas are failing because by the time the broad industry hears of them, they are too far down the production path to allow for the changes that industry require.
These ideas need to be presented at the start of the journey by the collaboration of industry participants and entrepreneurs to ensure market acceptance of the final product. Further, this validation will drive more investment.
WE NEED TO FIND WAYS TO REMOVE THE RISK FOR FARMERS WHO ADOPT TECHNOLOGY EARLY.
When farmers refuse to adopt new tech it is often because they prefer to wait until it is proven rather than take a risk and need to ensure there are the appropriate tech support services in place.
Previously we solved these risks through the old DPI extension services providing the link between researchers, innovators and producers. Further, the extension officer ran field trials and field days to ensure there was validation of the new ideas.
With these services all but removed, we now struggle to answer these as farmers.
Making matters worse, the new ag-tech boom is seeing many more, much smaller companies, in many cases simply partnerships of two or three people, bringing the new ideas to market, further making engagement harder.
We need to go back to that model and invest, as an industry, in extension services.
It’s great to see Hort Innovation Australia recently seek tenders for this exact service for our horticultural industries and I look forward to seeing others follow suit. WE NEED TO REDUCE WASTED RESEARCH AND TECH DEVELOPMENT AND REDUCE DUPLICATION.
The current funding mechanisms through our CRCs and RDCs result in significant duplication of research across our industries.
Different projects funded by different bodies seeking to solve the exact same problems.
We need to drive collaboration across the universities and industry bodies to share resources, grow together and see our levy funds go much, much further.
These are challenges we at TSBE Food Leaders Australia are keen to take on.
I’m currently travelling through the US looking at their models on how they collaborate across these topics and I’m keen to share the learnings from this trip through the column next month.