Published on the 21/09/2016 | Written by Donovan Jackson
Precision agriculture has a lot to offer – and that doesn’t mean rubber chicken…
Agriculture, forestry and fishing contributes a good 6.1 percent to the country’s GDP. At the same time, the information and communications technology sector contributes some 8 percent, according to NZTech. What happens when the two are brought together?
Not necessarily an easy one to answer, but there are people working on that, among them Craige Mackenzie, chair of Precision Agriculture Association of New Zealand (PAANZ). “There is growing interest in the benefits of precision agriculture for environmental and financial viability of our New Zealand farms but we have a challenge ahead to get greater engagement with more farmers and companies in this sector,” he said in a statement.
That’s consistent with a view expressed recently by TUANZ CEO Craig Young.
Mackenzie said global agritech investment is growing rapidly, and estimated that in 2014 over $US2.4 billion went into the sector – more than the global fintech market. “With our traditional strengths in agriculture and our growing strengths in tech this is an opportunity we should pursue with vigour.”
Where the use of information technology is relatively immature – for example, farming as opposed to financial services – the potential for improvement is likely to be considerably bigger. And, while some, like former Federated Farmers Whanganui president now agri-eco-activist Rachel Stewart, might argue that agriculture is a sunset industry and we’ll all be quaffing synthetic milk and gnawing on lab-grown meat in a matter of years, Mackenzie believes the best is yet to come and it is likely to be powered by better connectivity and technology down the farm.
“There is an enormous opportunity for New Zealand to use technology as a means to support the economic growth of our agri sector and to also work with the sector to become a world leader in a fast growing agritech market,” he said.
Having recently received the 2016 international Precision Ag Farmer of the Year award in the United States, Mackenzie is identified as among the most innovative farmers in the world.
The Sapere research group says agricultural producers are generally low users of internet services relative to other industries, but they are still highly connected; Mackenzie said the rollout of networks and the increasing availability of internet connectivity, especially driven by the Rural Broadband Initiative, are enabling transformation in the way the agricultural sector operates and how suppliers integrate into the supply chain from pasture to plate.
“There are significant positive impacts available from connecting farms to broadband and from relatively simple data sharing applications. For example, online transactions and data transfers between dairy farmers, Fonterra and the Livestock Improvement Corporation reduce transactions costs and improve logistical co-ordination and farm management. There are also opportunities for the application of big data and analytics, particularly as speedy online transfers of data between farmers and suppliers become the norm,” he added.
