Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries

Internet-enabled digital agriculture alone has the potential to increase Australian agriculture’s gross value by $15.6 billion per year by 2030, an increase of 20 per cent.

And AgTech’s global market value is forecast to triple in worth to a staggering $45.4 billion by 2026, with Queensland well positioned to take a growing share of this value.

“Digital technologies can make the biggest difference to agricultural output in Australia in three ways,” says Salvo Vitelli, general manager of agribusiness policy at Queensland’s Department of Agriculture and Fisheries.

“Firstly, decision support, which has an $8 billion annual productivity growth potential; then monitoring and sensors, with a $4.3 billion productivity growth potential; and robotics and automation, which has a $3.3 billion productivity growth potential.”

 Climate change remains a critical issue for agri-producers, with predicted increases in the frequency and intensity of extreme weather events such as floods, fires, and droughts.

“It’s important, now more than ever, to adapt our practices and safeguard our food and fibre production,” Salvo says. “Agribusinesses are acutely aware of how important weather conditions are for their produce and how detrimental extreme weather events are on production, putting food security and livelihoods at risk.”

AgTech provides agribusinesses with real-time data and information, enabling them to make informed decisions and adapt to changing climate conditions.

 “It is crucial for government, industry and innovators to work with agribusinesses to overcome these challenges and pave the way for a more prosperous and sustainable future by accelerating the adoption of AgTech on-farm and across the supply chain.”

AgTech responded to the Covid-19 pandemic by demonstrating how more could be done digitally, prompting agribusinesses across the value chain to investigate alternative solutions to long-term problems like labour shortages. 

“As more digital technology is adopted, new skills and new jobs will be needed to support production systems and hardware,” Salvo says. “This in turn will help rural, regional and First Nation Australian communities to stay connected.”

Queensland’s geography and climate provides digital innovators the opportunity to trial technology in different environments. The state’s diverse ecosystems – a mix of tropical and subtropical – makes Queensland an attractive location for new innovators to put their technology to the test. 

“This grants Queensland firsthand exposure to new and emerging technology, setting it up to be a leader in AgTech innovation,” Salvo says. “Especially in areas such as climate-smart agriculture, soil health, and water use efficiency.”

Already, many of Queensland’s AgTech companies and start-ups are applauded internationally as innovators. 

Among the many successful players are companies like global award-winner AgUnity, a digital platform that creates a secure and transparent transaction framework for 500 million farmers in developing countries and the organisations that interact with them. 

DataFarming’s cloud-based platform the Digital Agronomist offers a crop-monitoring tool with access to 10 million free satellite maps globally from more than 35 million hectares across 14,000 farms worldwide.

AgTech’s partnerships with state universities are also producing results, with a joint initiative between Ceres Tag, the Queensland Government, James Cook University and the CSIRO resulting in the development of the world’s first direct-to-satellite cattle-monitoring smart ear-tag.

“This technology tracks animal location and health, and provides data to farmers, banks, insurance firms, and other bodies,” Salvo says. 

AgTech offers a unique opportunity to transform the global and domestic agribusiness and food and fibre sector by bolstering productivity,

sustainability, traceability, provenance, and biosecurity, along with climate resilience and emissions reduction.

Salvo Vitelli