LIMESTONE Coast potato and beef producer Anna Young is looking to the future in horticulture following the recent Precision Agriculture for Vegetable Production tour.
The tour took Ms Young from her farm in Kalangadoo to Adelaide, Melbourne and Tasmania where she joined other horticulture workers at a showcase of precision agriculture tools and techniques.
Ms Young travelled with members of Queensland’s Agriculture and Fisheries Department, as well as researchers from the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture.
Ms Young said the overall experience was one she would not forget.
“The networking from different people on the tour was amazing,” Ms Young said.
“The tour started off with a talk about the new iMap pest sentinel which we had a presentation about how it works and what it will look like.
“We were also shown some of the sensors they have which we can put on a vehicle and drive around.”
Ms Young said the sensors took samples of various bugs in the air, gathering data on potential pests.
“We also had a look at perpetual greenhouses to grow tomatoes and eggplants in and had a good look at how they control everything which is just another production facility,” she said.
“It is mind blowing to see what people are doing and the investment that is in a budget.”
Ms Young said the production facility captured carbon from its boiler before recycling it back into the greenhouse to add extra stimulation for tomatoes.
“It is one thing to see what tools are out there but it is another thing to try and see how we might be able to use it,” Ms Young said.
“One of the major benefits of the trip was meeting up and getting to know the other people in horticulture and what they are doing new, how they are thinking and doing, as well as learning from those on the tour.”
The local producer was impressed with the data management and automation at Victoria’s Boomaroo Nursery.
“They were saying they have the capability, or are moving towards the capability, for the first time people pick up a seedling to plant it is the first time a person has touched it,” she said.
“Also in Tasmania I was chatting to some people about what they are doing with their use of some of the precision agriculture techniques in planning and using that to inform what they do.”
Ms Young said she planned to access all data available to the industry with a heavy focus on planting.
“We have got the GPS capabilities and we use them but we do not use all the data that we could get out of the system,” she said.
