An innovative Internet of Things (IoT) digital farming project will plant smart meters and sensors on farms to grow resilient and profitable agribusinesses after securing funding through the Queensland Government’s Agribusiness Digital Solutions Grant Program.
The Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) has teamed up with Enzen Australia (Enzen) and National Narrowband Network Company (NNNCo) to implement a Low Power, Wide Area (LoRaWAN) network technology on two farms in Queensland and create an IoT solution to cover the end-to-end operations of the properties.
Queensland Farmers’ Federation (QFF) CEO Dr Georgina Davis said this project would provide an understanding of the significant potential that can be achieved through digital farming.
“A combination of smart meters, sensors and control devices will be installed on the demonstration sites to capture data on livestock; the environment; assets; soil health; health and safety; security; water and energy; weather and processes.”
“Farmers will then receive this granular data in real time, and in-depth data analytics will be performed to assist farmers to make more informed decisions about farm operations, efficiency, sustainability and administration.”
“The learnings from this project will then be shared with the agricultural sector and Queensland universities to ensure the broader farming community can benefit from the value achieved.”
Enzen CEO Dileep Vishwanath said the company and its invested partner NNNCo were pleased to be partnering with QFF to deliver this exciting project.
“Together we will be able to demonstrate the significant value that can be achieved through the use of digital farming using LoRaWAN and IoT and support the farming community in Queensland,” Mr Vishwanath said.
Executive Chairman of NNNCo David Spence said increasing productivity and traceability was key for farmers and the broader community.
“LoRaWAN technology enables better on-farm decisions and improvements in sustainability. We believe that the transformation of the agricultural sector can be accelerated with the help of technology,” Mr Spence said.
This Project has received funding from the Queensland Government through the Agribusiness Digital Solution Grants Program 2021.