Australia’s burgeoning agtech ecosystem barely existed three years ago. Yet, it’s the dawn of a new era for the country’s agricultural sector with technologies such as machine learning, Internet of Things (IoT) and robotics improving crop output, yield predictions, disease control, and farm management.
The newest edition of The Gatherer examines some of the big changes happening in food production and features the opinions and experiences of those leading the charge for a positive and sustainable future across Australia’s agricultural industry.
Cal Foulner, co-founder and director of Beanstalk, provides his vision for what a tech-connected farm might look like, from the use of a single dashboard to drones, webcams, nano-satellites and IoT. While it sounds farfetched, all the technology he mentions is available or in development today.
Martin Kneebone, managing director of Freshlogic, a specialist provider of market insights to stakeholders in fresh food production, discusses the whims and desires of today’s consumers and the trends shaping the food supply chain.
Julia Waite, head of operations for accelerator and VC fund SproutX, discusses some of the agtech businesses using technology such as IoT, the importance of collaboration between start-ups and the agricultural industry, and some of the barriers to technology adoption.
Edward Scott, a partner at Field Systems, a soil technology, land management and field advisory consultancy, shares his insights on the benefits IoT can bring to agriculture and ways that may assist in getting technology embraced by the sector.
Geert Hendrix, founder and CEO of Farmwall, which designs small scale vertical farms that grow fresh produce indoors, shares his mission to transform cities into food producing ecosystems, as well as the importance of collaboration and IP protection to his business.