Five innovative agricultural technology developers from across Australia have won an opportunity to pitch directly to an estimated 500 strong audience at South Australia's premier AgTech conference AdvanceAg next week to win $10,000.
The inaugural Macro Meats AgTech 'Pitch to Farmers' competition finalists are Winely (SA), Bio Optics Australia (SA), Onside (NSW), Bitwise Agronomy (TAS) and Farmbot Monitoring Solutions (NSW).
Minister for Primary Industries and Regional Development David Basham said many people are looking forward to attending AdvanceAg on 17 and 18 October after the rescheduling of the event due to COVID-19 restrictions.
"With more than 500 people expected to attend AdvanceAg, Australia's biggest AgTech conference in 2021, there will be an excited buzz around the Adelaide Convention Centre," Minister Basham said.
"It's exciting to have five finalists for our 'Pitch to Farmers' event and for attendees at the conference being able to vote for the winner on the day.
"The five AgTech businesses have been chosen from a field of almost 30 applications from all over Australia. Each business will have a five-minute pitch opportunity to farmers and delegates to outline the benefits of adopting their technology."
Aimed at start-ups and newly established AgTech providers, the Macro Meats 'Pitch to Farmers' has been designed to further drive the adoption of AgTech in South Australia.
All products entered in this year's competition had either not yet been launched on to the market, or only in commercial release for less than 18 months.
With more than 500 people expected to attend, those wanting to head to AdvanceAg are being urged to purchase their ticket as soon as possible.
"With COVID-19, there has been limited opportunities for farmers and AgTech community members to get together and share ideas and network," Minister Basham said.
"The inaugural AdvanceAg had around 330 people in attendance and is growing each year.
"This year we have focused on having technology providers present with a farmer who uses their technology as a way to encourage greater adoption of tech on-farm in South Australia.
"The Marshall Liberal Government is committed to growing AgTech adoption in South Australia as a way of boosting farm profitability and production and that's why we have launched our AgTech Strategic Plan."
Further information on the AdvanceAg conference and to purchase tickets, visit www.advanceagsa.com.au
Guy Davidson, Head of ANZ Growth
Onside is an app based check in software that allows people to check into farms, do their inductions, report new hazards, incidents and tasks, communicate with others onsite and view emergency information. Onside also has a lone worker safety system that automates follow up and safety of people working alone. Ultimately Onside's vision is to build a global rural network to provide next generation biosecurity.
Bio Optics Australia Pty Ltd (SA)
Vicky Staikopoulos, Managing Director and Co-Founder
Real-time and reliable wool micron testing in your hands.
We are developing a cost-effective hand-held device that will measure wool diameter (micron) in real-time. This device is a combination of specialised optics hardware with AI driven software that fits into a sturdy hand-held unit and can be used anywhere on or off the farm. This will enable wool growers to assess wool quality on the sheep's back, providing quick diameter readings and thereby allowing farmers to make decisions on the go by removing the guess work and reducing the waiting time associated with current testing methods.
Fiona Turner, CEO and Co-Founder
GreenView is an AI platform which analyses video footage taken by growers. Growers can attach a GoPro camera to capture side-on, plant-by-plant imagery, whilst performing other tasks in the field such as mulching or spraying. GreenView will analyses the video, count and measure parameters and growth stages of the crop and generate tailored insight reports. This data underpins tactical decisions, such as spraying, canopy management and yield prediction. We currently work in wine and table grapes, raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and blueberries and expanding currently into cherries, greenhouse tomatoes and citrus.
Winely (SA)
Abbe Hyde, Founder and CTO
Winely provides chemical and biological analysis of a fermentation in real-time. Our IoT hardware samples tanks in situ, providing millions of data points per day from a single ferment. Our software system applies deepmind, and deepweb analysis of the ferment providing direct and indirect measurement of 105 attributions, predictive and interventive analysis.
Farmbot Monitoring Solutions (NSW)
Andrew Coppin, CEO
Farmbot Camera provides on-demand or scheduled images of troughs, dams or tanks and other on-farm assets enabling farmers to be in multiple places at once. The Camera has three image capture settings that can be selected depending on the image quality required. The Camera has the functionality to zoom in and out, enabling the user to see more detail. The images captured can be requested via the MyFarmbot Platform on phone and desktop devices.
