Fran O'Sullivan and Alexander Speirs: Going hi tech to boost efficiency

Technology and farming now work hand in hand to help profitability.

Imagine a world where farm workers are more focused on the computer screens than the steering wheel in their tractors. It is already happening throughout the country and mass deployment looks like it could be just around the corner.

The next big step forward for our primary industries could very well be precision agriculture -- a set of farm management tools that brings big data to the rural sector.

The technology, which draws together a number of elements -- big data and analytics, real time information, global positioning satellites, sensors and agriculture specific technology -- is used primarily to improve efficiency on farms.

Precision agriculture broadly encompasses a number of technologies, which could see things like smart tractors and drones, making better use of water and fertiliser, real time weather patterns influencing irrigation tables, or soil sensors ensuring only the exact amount of nutrients and water are delivered to each part of the land.

Craige Mackenzie, chairman of the Precision Agriculture Association of New Zealand, says the benefits of precision agriculture extend beyond the bottom line and can reduce the impact farming has on the land.

"It's always easy to capture a lot of data, but interpreting and managing it in a form that is usable and economically viable has, in the past, been more challenging. Now things like yield mapping or electromagnetic testing of the soil to pick up variability can be completed in real time and make for more informed management decisions -- whether it be based on yield, efficiency or the environment."

Already New Zealand has taken a lead in precision agriculture, with a number of companies developing the technology, sold internationally and further funds segmented for future development.

Leading the pack early on was Precision Irrigation and Wheresmycows. Both made use of GPS technology and were developed by Massey University students Stu Bradbury and George Rickets. They were sold on internationally to Lindsay Corporation and are making an impact globally.

Tru-Test group, based out of Central Otago, has been a market leader in farming technology since the electric fence, and continues to produce industry leading productivity tools for farmers, taking the technology to the world as an award-winning exporter.

Research and Markets predicts precision agriculture to be a US$6.34 billion ($8.2 billion) industry by 2022. With New Zealand agritechnology exports sitting at $1.2 billion annually -- there is significant room for expansion -- on the farm and abroad -- for our rural inventors and innovators.

Mackenzie says: "One of the key elements is taking into account the environmental benefits and profitability -- those two things need to go hand in hand, and precision agriculture presents the opportunity to do both of these better than any technology we've had before.

"It's about putting the right product, in the right place, at the right time -- and only what is required.

"Some of this technology can very simply say, I don't want to put any fertiliser in the river or in the stream and you can automatically exclude those areas."

At a time when the environmental impacts of agriculture are better understood and farmers continue to come under fire for water pollution, soil erosion and inefficient use of resources -- precision agriculture has the ability to alter perceptions and significantly improve the sustainability of farming.

As the government looks to clamp down on farming regulations -- particularly where health and the environment are concerned, the time for implementing precision agriculture technologies has never been better.

"We're currently saving on average 30 per cent of our water by using variable rate irrigation systems and achieving similar numbers with fertiliser, while still continuing to drive productivity. We're significantly reducing our inputs while improving our productivity -- or at the very least maintaining those levels at a lower cost."

Deployment of precision agriculture technologies have taken a while to gain traction in New Zealand, but are now beginning to ramp up, says Mackenzie. "The knowledge of what the benefits are is growing and people are understanding what the environmental restrictions on farming are moving forward."

The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Enterprise, and Callaghan Innovation, are working to accelerate the development of the technology as well as commercialisation.