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the australian farmer
Andrew Weidemann, GPA RD&E spokesperson and Victor- ian grain producer, said GPA’s submission alerts the National Robotics Strategy to the fact that this new technology will deliver much needed efficiency gains for grain producers, along with broader industry and com- munity benefits. “Australia’s grains indus- try is already seeing reports of early movement in the au- tonomy space, with smaller
domestic product by 2030 given sufficient investment across the private and public sectors,” it says. However, the paper also says: “Australia is facing wide- spread and acute skill short- ages” and “continued business innovation and investment in new technology, such as robot- ics and automation, can help lift productivity growth during a period of historically low un- employment.”
autonomous machinery such as SwarmFarm that can spot spray weeds in paddocks dur- ing summer,” he said. “Other growers will be watching intently, to see how this can translate into dollars and cents on their own farms; especially moving towards scaling up to the future use of bigger driverless machinery at seeding and harvesting. “GPA recognised this tech- nology’s impending arrival – that’s why we’ve worked with TMA and SPAA to get ahead of the game.” GPA’s submission to the strategy shows that a recently released report analysed the global market for autonomous farm equipment and estimated its value at $US77.8 billion in the year 2020 ($114b). This an- alysis also projected the mar- ket to reach $US199.8b ($292b) by 2027. “This increase is forecast to be driven by growing gov- ernment and private sector investments in intelligent agriculture, as the future of sustainable farming and Aus- DID YOU KNOW The global market for auton- omous farm equipment is projected to reach $US199.8 billion by 2027, with tractors set to dominate demand. ?
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