FOR YEARS, the grains industry has had access to a massive data set.
From yield mapping to EM 38 images which can identify paddock soil types to a backlog of field history in terms of input application, farmers can put their hands on a wealth of information.
Making it pay, however, has been a different story.
While there have been some success stories within the Precision Agriculture (PA) space, generally farmers report they do not feel they make the most out of their data.
The chief executive of Proagrica, a British data business with a growing footprint in Australia, believes agriculture is on the cusp of making the vast data sets it generates pay.
David Wilson said data will drive efficiency gains in agriculture through facilitating better decision making, both at a real time front and a long-term level.
“We have entered a period in farming where data capture and interpretation is essential for successful farm businesses,” he said.
He said his business was looking to develop an approach that provides a neutral platform suitable for farmers looking to use a PA-based system for their business.
The concept is simple.
“The system provides farmers and their advisors with the data they need for precision agriculture, which we define as ‘Evidence-Based Production’, a method of farming that embraces technology and utilises data to transform on-farm production,” Mr Wilson said.
“It connects multiple sources of data across the supply chain to facilitate data driven decision-making.”
Targeting the grains sector in the UK, Proagrica has launched Agility Crops, which will provide real time insight into input usage, such as fertiliser.
In the United Kingdom there has been strong uptake of the system, with over 800,000 hectares of crop grown using the system.
The change to previous farm management systems has been identifying solutions real-time, rather than waiting for a retrospective view generated by whole of season data.
Mr Wilson was confident the real-time technology would have a good fit in cropping.
“We have seen the same technology prove itself in other sectors and I’m excited to be able to see how the agricultural sector can benefit,” he said.
“We are just scratching the surface of the opportunities provided through technology.”
Proagrica is involved in global agriculture through its F4F branded integration technology and has added a data analytics platform to their portfolio.
Glen Andrews, F4F regional director, Asia Pacific, said the key to making data pay came down to two factors.
“Like any data platform there needs to be two elements,” he said. “Firstly the insight provided by the data and secondly how that insight is interpreted and the subsequent actions taken on-farm.
“In both cases, quality is key, the formative data needs to be built upon good quality data and be relevant; the latter relies upon the ability of the farmer and/or advisor to be able to apply the insight on farm to increase the accuracy of decision making.”
Within the cropping sector, he said this might mean gathering data on how a seed variety had performed in a range of different locations.
“This could be based upon data from many farm sources including agronomic information, weather and time of sowing.
“The insights allow the agronomist to make informed decisions across a variety of actions from seed type, soil type, disease treatments and harvest dates.”
He said he saw the initial gains from better use of data coming in terms of better management of crop inputs, creating savings for the business.
In the longer term, he said a better understanding of crop physiology would help boost yields.