Farming in Tasmania will change from today with the launch of a Precision Agriculture Project which will help push up farm productivity across the state and create jobs.
The $530,000 project will use the latest technology and enable Tasmanian farmers to better match their crops and stock to the weather, soil and other conditions.
This will not only help boost crop and stock yields, it will reduce fertiliser costs, limit chemical applications and costs, improve irrigation techniques and create better farm management decisions.
Precision agriculture techniques are a game-changer for farmers. It includes technology like satellite positioning systems, automated machine guidance, computers and devices to improve and guide farming practices and performance.
This is the first project from the Hodgman Liberal Government’s $600,000 Farm Productivity Program, a key part of the overall Creating Prosperity: A 2050 Vision for Agriculture initiative, to grow agriculture and create jobs.
It is the culmination of a year’s work by the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture and industry including Premium Fresh, Simplot Australia, GlaxoSmithKline, Serve-Ag, farmers, the TIA and DPIPWE, led by the Tasmanian Agricultural Productivity Group.
The Government will contribute $370,000 to the project, while a further $160,000 is to be invested by industry stakeholders.
The funds will be distributed to the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture for the agronomic component of the field demonstration sites and the Tasmanian Agricultural Productivity Group for site characterisation, geo-referencing, extension and overall project coordination.
Results from the program will be promoted at field days, expos and forums and a virtual Precision Agriculture Tasmania shopfront will be created.
The project will also establish commercial-scale, on-farm demonstration sites in the: Meander Valley, Northern Midlands, North-East, in Tunbridge and on the North West Coast to show our farmers the positive impacts of adopting precision agriculture technologies.
This work will build on our $1.5 million water for profit program; to assist our farmers to reap the full benefits of our expanding irrigation network.
The Hodgman Liberal Government is committed to building on our competitive strengths, like agriculture. We have a vision to grow the annual farm gate value of our agriculture produce to $10 billion by 2050, and the Precision Agriculture Project will help us to achieve this.
Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Primary Industries and Water
