Ag science event in Toowoomba attracts a diverse crowd
INTEREST in agricultural science is not dropping any time soon if the turnout for Cobb and Co Museum’s special event, The Farmer Wants a Science Life, was anything to go by.
The event was part of World Science Festival Brisbane’s regional road show and gave about 300 farmers and community members the chance to hear all about the future of agricultural developments from scientists and other producers.
University of Southern Queensland research fellow Dr Alison McCarthy said she was pleased with both the turnout for the event and the special interest shown in her irrigation technology research.
Dr McCarthy has been studying the best ways to monitor and refine existing irrigation technology to become far more efficient.
She has worked with cotton growers, horticulturists and grain growers to figure out the best ways to apply water while getting more bang for each buck.
She presented an overview of robotics and automation technologies being used to create the irrigation
efficiencies.
“My main research is in the automation of irrigation for cotton in particular and dry pasture,” Dr McCarthy said.
“Water is typically applied uniformly, which can result in water being over-applied in some areas and under-applied in others.”
She said there was certainly no shortage of data available to farmers in the form of drone imagery and
other technology, but the problem was finding ways to make use of all that data to ensure water went exactly where it was needed.
And in order to make the research truly user-friendly and worthwhile, Dr McCarthy said she used only existing irrigation technologies like centre pivot and natural movement that could then be modified using robotics and automation.
She was approached by a number of growers interested in the new technology after her presentation and said there seemed to be a strong interest all round regarding agricultural innovation.
Dr McCarthy said she herself only got involved in the industry after discovering its fascinating aspects through her engineering degree.
“My background is in mechatronic engineering and
it was through doing a research project in my engineering degree that I got interested in the agricultural side of things,” she said.
“There are lots of topics on offer and it really got me interested in being able to practically apply robotics to agriculture.”
Cobb and Co Museum marketing co-ordinator Kristy Hayes said the evening was a resounding success.