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ADDITIONAL READING
Further decision support Additional building blocks are underway within the Grain Auto- mate initiative to support growers’ decision making. These include peer-to-peer learning activities and cross-industry workshops, lever- aging lessons from adopting auto- mation in other industries, includ- ing health, mining and dairy. Disclaimer Grain Automate is a Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC project code : CSP2405-022RTX) in- itiative on behalf of Australian grain growers aimed at accelerating the adoption of machine automation, autonomy and digital technologies in the Australian grains industry. R&D investment in this technology does not indicate commercial product en- dorsement by GRDC. Sue Knights - With over 30 years in Australian agriculture, Sue writes for SPAA, Agronomy Australia, and the Australasia Pacific Extension Network.
ability, or farm scale - you can see how sensitive the investment is to real-world variables,” he says. An example is shown of the out- put from the finance calculator in Figure 1. This example shows the cost breakdown for a convention- al spray unit (1) as compared to a green on brown (2) and a com- bined green on brown and green on green spray unit (3). Here, the analysis demonstrates that green on brown systems, mounted onto a trailed sprayer can gener- ate a sizeable reduction in chem- ical costs. In this farming system, green on green systems delivered fewer benefits, because most chemical applications were either applied to a summer fallow, or were pre-emergent. Each farm is unique, and individual results may not apply to your farm. “Ultimately, a financial evalua- tion tool provides a structured, ob- jective way to balance advantages and disadvantages, reducing guesswork and helping you make a decision grounded in economics and personalised for your specific farming system.”
fully realise the potential benefits,” he says. Making a decision Dr Lawes notes that balancing the advantages and disadvantages of autonomous machinery requires a careful assessment of how the technology fits within both your current and future farming system. You could start by considering your crops, paddock size and lay- out, soils, rotations, and labour availability to determine whether autonomy can improve efficiency, timing, soil health, or input use. Quantify potential benefits such as productivity gains, labour savings, and more precise input applica- tion, while also identifying risks, including high upfront costs, main- tenance, downtime, and the need for staff training. Consider whether the machinery allows your farm to scale or adopt new practices and whether it is flexible enough to adapt as your system evolves. “A financial tool can be extreme- ly helpful when deciding whether to invest in autonomous machin- ery because it turns uncertainty into clear, data-driven insights,” Dr Lawes says. “Such a tool can be the first step to illuminate where the automated advantages are for your system.“ The tool, which is under de- velopment, allows you to quan- tify both the costs and benefits of adoption. This includes upfront purchase price, maintenance and running costs, labour, fuel and fi- nance costs. “By running scenarios under different assumptions - like chan- ges in crop prices, labour avail-
Figure 1: Financial calculator showing the breakdown of costs between chemicals, labour, fuel and finance for a conventional spray unit versus Green on Brown and Green on Brown combined with Green on Green. Source Roger Lawes, CSIRO. CLICK HERE TO READ - Tips from a grower
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