I KNOW I have grey hair, and do use modern technology for work, but not much for play, I have found I have a lot to learn.
Farmers now, and into the future, will have so much more to embrace when considering how to operate their properties and farming businesses.
Modern information technology (IT) is leaping ahead, to the extent that many may not have considered possible. Looking at how IT has rapidly improved in recent years, one can expect IT to create many more options at an ever increasing rate.
I was bemused by the man playing around with a drone at Sale a couple of weeks ago, but didn’t have the time to seek further information about what he was doing.
However, after attending the Commonwealth Bank breakfast at the Lardner Park Field Days last Friday, I had to learn to expand my thinking. One of the guests on the panel after breakfast was Will Bignell, who spoke of drone technology and how it can change the way we farm.
Mr Bignell was more into drone technology that will relay data back to a central site, and allow a farmer to monitor pasture, or more importantly for him, crops and moisture content etc.
However, when you think about it, drone technology is only in its infancy. Imagine when a farmer can stand on their verandah and send out a drone, up to some 10 kilometres, and check water, pastures and pasture growth, without turning over the key to the farm vehicle.
It would not surprise me if this is already available, but checking windmills, troughs, even irrigation channels and the like, from home. Imagine also having irrigation flood gates electronically operated by a drone through your home computer.
Video relay from your drone could tell you when it is time to open or close a gate, measure the water flow, and then in a few days tell you the rate of pasture or crop growth. All from home.
Extend the mind even further, and given the range of drones these days, and into the future, I could imagine a farmer operating solar powered, electronically operated paddock gates from home.
Of course, a lot of this relies on the ability to send and receive signals to a drone. However, currently you can download information from a drone direct to your mobile phone. Technology is already available to enable you to control spraying of pasture by using drones, and this modern technology will advance very fast.
Mobile reception will be a determining factor, but with the telecom companies rapidly expanding their coverage, and NBN also expanding rapidly, it will not be long before most farmers will have access to good reception.
Now, I have to say that I believe modern technology is not the friend of MLA, especially when getting information out by email. NLRS market reports remain very fragmented in their release, and although head office says “it is on their website almost straight away”, emailed reports still vary greatly in their time of delivery.
Consider this, MLA’s EYCI notification comes out daily, and whether you believe this still relevant, when the report comes out late in the morning of the next day, it is basically useless for market information. Livestock market reports are still hours late by email, which really makes you wonder where MLA are trying to lead customers.
