20
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY chains, in a business pro- cess that is sustainable; and • The process must be scal- able. • This last point is often overlooked yet it’s vital, because the ways in which organisations capture value from digital tech- nology vary significantly. From a classification de- veloped in UK manufactur- ing, we call these : • The “John Deere model”- much farm machinery comes with a mass of em- bedded digital technol- ogy, with farmers using the technology to improve field operations; • The “CBH model” - value is created in bulk commod- ities through management of scaled-up processes, with scale operators using digital technology to manage processes on be- half of farmer customers; • The “Syngenta model”
Services (DAS), digital trading, landscape valuation, and OFE (On-Farm Experimentation). Graincast™, Australia's first re- al-time grain forecast platform, was developed with CSIRO’s expertise in grain forecasting, climate, remote sensing, data management, software engin- eering, and social innovation. This app assists grain grow- ers with crop decision making through making available yield data - from individual paddocks and across the whole farm. MEAT AND LIVESTOCK INDUS- TRIES Satellite imagery pasture evalu- ation, electronic identification (eID), animal welfare monitor- ing and dual-energy x-ray ab- sorptiometry technology (more commonly known as “DEXA”) for meat quality grading, have al- ready become an integral part of the Meat and Livestock industry, with some common failures and successes. HIGH VALUE PRODUCT Digitally enhanced connectivity between consumer and producer has been growing in popularity and effectiveness. In the coffee industry, CROPSTER is a great example of software which con- nects coffee professionals world- wide from producers all the way through to people in cafes, work- ing with small to large businesses across the coffee supply chain to deliver solutions that add value. In Australia, the FA CRC is co-creating projects in numer- ous dimensions of the agri-food
“disruptors” which provide digital services connecting farm- ers, processors, intermediaries, retailers, consumers, and many more. Many such services are new and developing rapidly, with weak and strong ties to what we have always thought of as the “farm economy”, as well as links to other industries and their commercial practices. Above all, leadership is re- quired to take aspirations of value creation from digital agri- culture into the future. Govern- ment leadership is the most traditional and obvious source of leadership. There is evidence of this playing-out in our Fed- eral Minister for Agriculture’s 2022 pledge of $68 million to im- prove traceability systems alone. Leadership is, however, being realised in new forms unique to Australia. An example is the Food Agility Co-operative Research Centre (FA CRC) which is partner- ing government, academia, and industry for the co-creation of es- tablishing new data-driven tech- nology for the agri-food industry. HOW WILL DIGITAL AGRICUL- TURE APPEAR AMONGST AUS- TRALIAN PRODUCERS? A number of ways Digital Agri- culture (DA) has been enhancing Australian Agriculture, specific- ally Grains, Meat and Livestock, Dairy and High Value Product, include the following: GRAINS INDUSTRY The Australian Grains industry has several DA tools, such as Graincast, Digital Agriculture
- rich sources of data are available to farmers through technology em- bedded in chemical or seed product; and • The “CSBP model” - sup- pliers of “standard” inputs may embed digital tech- nology in production pro- cesses for users to get more value out of these inputs. The examples above derive from incumbents in value chains. Moreover, a range of additional opportunities are emerging to exploit opportunities for digital services. These are the so-called
Powered by FlippingBook