The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) will teach Australian farmers how to use computer technology in their farms by holding the first Digital Rural Futures Conference on June 26 to 28 at the University of New England' Kirby SMART Farm near Armidale.

It is part of CSIRO's $1.3 million broadband innovation project, said CSIRO Centre Director Colin Griffiths.

Among the things that will be taught is how to use a tablet computer to track animals with eartags, said David Lamb, professor of physics and precision agriculture at the university.

He said the eartags are more than just locators of the stock, but also indicators of the state of the farm animals if they are dead, being stolen or giving birth. He added the Kirby SMART Farm is developing a program that would alert the farmer on the feed levels or pasture preferences.

The farm also has about 100 soil sensors that transmit information every five minutes about moisture, air and ground temperatures to a tablet computer and the farmhouse computer using its Pastures in Space program that transmits satellite images.

By going high-tech, Mr Lamb said Aussie farmers could cut their costs, improve yields and maximise each paddock. It was made possible because the SMART Farm is one of the first rural areas to be connected to Australia's national broadband network.

Among the case studies that the researchers from the SMART farm will present are the used by a Tasmanian vineyard of sensors on vines to detect the presence of the botrytis bacteria that ruin grapes and a Gilgandra wheat grower who reduced his fertiliser cost by one-third using a plant canopy sensor to spot the best place and when to apply the fertiliser.

CSIRO said it would release a white paper promoting the NBN to help transform Australian farming and improve the farmers' relationship with retailers, service providers and food processors. In turn, the NBN will put in place broadband hotspots on all farms, sensor technology to create an Internet of property information and faster video conferencing for service providers such as animal doctors to provide remote service in the outback at affordable rates.

RELATED STORIES