An Undera farmer believes better access to technology for women in agriculture can significantly help changes in farming systems and practices across the sector.
In March, Sarah Parker recently attended the 67th United Nations Council on the Status of Women (CSW67), held in New York, which the UN described as its "largest annual gathering on gender equality, the empowerment of all women and girls and their human rights."
She also originally attended the forum in 2018, where the forum's focus was on rural and remote women and girls.
In 2023, the key theme of the forum was technology, while a second review theme looked over the rural women and girls theme from 2018.
Ms Parker, who was at the forum as a National Rural Women's Coalition representative, said the convergences of these two themes were closely integrated.
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"During and Post-COVID, we've all gone digital with a work and daily tasks, and so we want to look at how we can get gender equality and empowerment of women through that digital space, and artificial intelligence," Ms Parker said.
"Some of the key areas that we focused on was health outcomes, educational outcomes, and for others, it may have been access to knowledge and what are basic rights.
"In some countries there are areas that don't have electricity, so (we talked about) how would they access the digital space. "
"That's where technology and innovation come in to play - where some farmers are accessing it through hand powered laptops for example, ensuring that they've got infrastructure."
Ms Parker said digital literacy remained a massive challenge for those living in rural Australia and across the globe.
She believes not taking action on improving digital literacy skills for those living in the bush can have far-reaching implications.
"The other big issue has been bullying, stalking, and inappropriate behaviors, and how to actually educate people about what's right and what's wrong," she said.
"With farming, people just get emails non-stop about things being sold to them, or they need to sign up for.
"If you've got low levels of digital literacy, how do we educate people and help them to make the right decisions?"
Back home, Sarah and her husband Raymond have learned that implementing new technologies at their Undera farm Glencliffe Illawarras has had many benefits.
Glencliffe Illawarra cows wear collars that work as the equivalent of a pedometer for a human, measuring data such as the digestive rate, activity rate, and heat detection.
Each cow has a health index that can be checked via a mobile phone app.
She said learning about and finding the capacity to engage the technology has changed how they join cows on the farm.
"We actually get a text message via an application when a cow is in heat, and so we join that cow without having to have a synchronisation program and use drugs," she said.
Another example of technology implementation on her farm is a new automated irrigation system.
"Water (is) delivered through pipes and risers... that automated irrigation means we have fewer channels, with the land returned to production growing feed for cows or for shelterbelts," she said.
"We also now use less chemicals to maintain channels, and irrigation is more precise with the management of water use efficiency and increased fodder growth.
"We are also able to reuse all effluent on the farm via the irrigation system as well."
At its conclusion, the CSW67 forum released a final statement that expressed concern about the current progress in closing the gender gap in access to and use of technologies, connectivity, digital literacy and education.
It also called for several initiatives that promote innovation, including developing digital tools and promoting programs that achieve gender parity in emerging scientific fields.
Ms Parker believes a lot needs to be done to reduce the disparity between rural women and agricultural industries worldwide, but some advancements have gained more traction.
"One example might be that when I talk about water rights as a farmer in Australia, I think about my access to water for irrigation, yet when I talk to someone in an African country, they talk about water rights as their access to not having to walk kilometres to get water they can drink," she said.
"But then there are also examples where that particular farmer in Africa has got better mobile phone service than what I have in Australia, so very much its checks and balances that are put in place."
Learning about those examples at the CSW67 in person made the experience valuable to Ms Parker.
"When you meet people face to face, you actually form a connection, and a kinship is often what helps some of those countries that are struggling socio-economically," she said.
"These connections allow sharing of experiences and opportunities for investment, guidance, capacity and capability buildingin those countries," she said.
"That cross-fertilisation of knowledge and connection is what can actually make a really big difference."
