Tasmania’s Riversdale Estate, a small family-owned vineyard. Photo: Flickr/Riversdale Estate.

Fleet Space Technologies has joined forces with researchers at the University of Tasmania (UTAS) in the world of Big Data, sensors and space technology to trial their first local precision farming project. A partnership between the UTAS’ Industrial Transformation Research Hub, Pathways to Market, Sense-T, and Fleet Space Technologies is underway in the remote town of Hamilton, Tasmania. The telemetry project will monitor farm temperatures and soil moisture, comparing data captured via ground sensors relayed through Long Range (LoRa) networks, and data captured via satellites.

The project aims to give Fleet engineers and UTAS researchers ultra-granular data forming insights into the challenges facing the Australian agriculture industry. The insights will inform plans for industry transformation that will see technology increase operational efficiency, yields and supply chain outcomes.

“Over 61 percent of Australia’s land mass is owned by farmers and the implications of operating in remote, often harsh, conditions throws up challenges that require urgent attention,” said associate professor Laurie Bonney, director of Pathways to Market. “As our global population continues to grow exponentially, we’re facing huge challenges in keeping up with the rate of food production and resource depletion. This project is a critical step forward to precisely monitor every step in our food supply chain, to ultimately increase global production efficiencies.”