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Weeds, 11 Nov 2024
The future is here – automated drone docks coming to a farm near you
A new kind of drone operator licence called BVLOS – Beyond Visual Line of Sight – allows operators to place autonomous drone docking stations within farming locations. They will be supervised remotely, without the need for a pilot to attend the site. This was discussed at a GRDC webinar, which came about after the topic of aerial applications was raised at several recent National Grower Network meetings.
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Precision Agriculture and Machinery, 17 Oct 2024
Early support essential for ‘light bulb’ moments
GRDC has invested $5 million in a second Australian Grains Innovation program to ensure a pipeline of novel technology and business ideas with the potential to solve some of the grains industry’s trickiest problems.
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Precision Agriculture and Machinery, 11 Oct 2024
Researcher on a machinery mission to re-engineer soils
Dr Gaus Azam’s groundbreaking research on soil re-engineering in Western Australia, supported by GRDC in partnership with DPIRD, has significantly increased crop yields and water use efficiency. A GRDC award has enabled him to travel to Germany to consult with soils experts.
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Precision Agriculture and Machinery, 02 Oct 2024
Cross-industry approach allows for new agtech ideas
Summary: Melbourne agtech startup AquaTerra is developing a battery-operated device that uses sensors set 150 millimetres into the ground to gauge soil moisture and temperature at depths of up to two metres. AquaTerra took part in the Farmers2Founders five-month accelerator program, Harvest – with support from GRDC – in 2021-22.
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Precision Agriculture and Machinery, 16 Sep 2024
Assessing sensors for enhanced canola plant architecture selection
GRDC is exploring the potential of next-gen phenomic tools with a Dutch company, PhenoKey, and the Germany-based Fraunhofer Institute for Integrated Circuits, to improve yield selection in canola. Preliminary studies are showing promise for the application of LiDAR, X-ray and RTK-GPS for high-throughput non-destructive estimation of biomass, harvest index and other traits.
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Precision Agriculture and Machinery, 12 Sep 2024
Novel techniques identify drought-tolerant roots
Professor Daniel Rodriguez, Dr Dongxue Zhao, Associate Professor Karine Chenu, Professor Lee Hickey, Professor David Jordan, Professor Emma Mace, Professor Hannah Schneider, Associate Professor Andries Potgieter, Dr Vijaya Singh, Dr Anton Wasson and Dr Hammad Khan
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Precision Agriculture and Machinery, 11 Sep 2024
Push to step up trait knowledge adoption
Can UAV mounted hyperspectral cameras be used to assess potential useful physiogical traits to enhance the yield potential of Australian wheat? This is a question being addressed in a GRDC/Australian Grain Technologies supported project aiming to optimise the deployment of physiology-based traits in wheat breeding using phenomic tools.
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Precision Agriculture and Machinery, 06 Sep 2024
Phenomics to improve disease management and resistance breeding
In the quest for sustainable agriculture, the effective management of crop diseases and the development of resilient, disease-resistant crops are paramount. Phenomics, the study of an organism’s physical and biochemical traits as influenced by the environment and genetics, has emerged as a powerful tool to achieve these goals. GRDC is investing in these new methods, both at field and laboratory level. Barley Net blotches, wheat rusts and blackleg in canola are the first targets.
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Precision Agriculture and Machinery, 04 Sep 2024
Phenomics – the link between crop genetics and performance
Bridging the knowledge gap between improving crop genetics and evaluating field performance has traditionally been time-consuming and laborious. But new technologies are enabling a step change in accuracy and throughput by using innovative platforms and advanced sensors to accelerate exciting advances in crop improvement. The Australian Plant Phenomics Network (APPN), supported by significant investments from federal and state governments, universities and GRDC, is providing much-needed infrastructure to facilitate this step change.
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Precision Agriculture and Machinery, 29 Aug 2024
Big data approach improves on-farm trial insights
Researchers at CCDM are using precision agricultural tools like yield maps and remote sensing to manage variability in Australian cropping systems, improving crop yields and quality. With GRDC and Food Agility CRC support and in collaboration with industry partners, they aim to develop spatial analysis tools for growers, helping them to make more informed decisions through visualisation of data, implementation of on-farm experimental strip trials and advanced statistical methods.