the australian farmer
omists and minimised risks to their businesses. I started out with a 100km radius for my business model, and ended up global.” TAF: With your experience in Silicon Valley, what do you think Aussie farmers can learn from the climate of innovation there? CP: “There was over $3 billion invested in agtech start-ups in Silicon Valley in 2016, and the effect of that money will soon start trickling down around the world. Particularly for regional areas, I think agtech and start-ups are going to have a big impact by bringing talented people from the city to the regions. It’s going to help regional companies start, and it’s going to help local businesses within a region benefit from the latest technology. I think a lot of people are coming from outside of agriculture with great ideas, smart apps, sensors and algorithms from other industries. In the past, they were not really connected to where the problem was and what was relevant to the farmer, but that is starting to change as well.” “On the flipside, Australian farmers operate in international markets, so we’re more susceptible to fluctuations than our American or European
counterparts and aren’t given many government subsidies. Therefore, I think farmers here are a lot more driven about being more efficient and getting everything out of the land and resources given the uncertainty in international commodity prices. I think innovation occurs earlier here in Australia than other places, particularly in irrigated agriculture, and we have demonstrated we are leaders in that. “Our practices for water application efficiency in crops are so much higher than our competitors. We’ve achieved tremendous outcomes in terms of increasing our yield per litre of water – here in northern Victoria, I’ve been helping dairy farmers grow twice as much dry matter per litre of water. That means off the same land, the same seed, the same volume of water, we are growing twice as much dry matter. That has a huge impact on the business and its profitability. I think we’re really leaders in that area, and that’s what a lot of Australian companies can take to the American market.” TAF: What is the real story on the Internet of Things beyond the hype – what changes is it going
265
