Mark Allison: How technology is helping SA farmers feed the world and build our economy

Elders chief executive Mark Allison explains how SA farmers are embracing change in the face of extraordinary global challenges.

It is an exciting time for Australia’s agriculture industry.

The demand for safe, quality, Australian product has never been higher and is poised for exponential growth as Australia’s neighbouring populations continue to grow and prosper.

Earlier this year, the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics and Sciences reported that global average incomes are projected to rise substantially in coming decades.

The number of people in high-income countries are projected to triple by 2050, adding more than three billion new consumers to this group.

This is set to happen close to home, with long-term population trends suggesting the Asian population will peak at 5.3 billion people in about 2050.

To rise to the challenge of continuing to feed Australia, its neighbours, and the world’s growing population, the agriculture industry must grow its output.

The industry has set a target to reach $100bn by 2030, up from $70bn currently, and the state government has set its own ambitious target of $23bn in annual revenue by 2030.

South Australia has a real and vital part to play in helping to achieve these growth ambitions by developing and commercialising AgTech innovations. AgTech encompasses a world of tools and technologies that can allow farmers to be more productive, efficient and sustainable.

Some examples of AgTech in play are the consolidation of farmland and the commercialisation of larger “industrialised” equipment, the adoption of precision agriculture practices, and the use of satellite imagery, sensors and automated technology in the management of farms.

Canola crops in the Clare Valley. Picture: John Montesi

There are also many farm management software platforms which seek to help farmers in running enterprises as efficiently as possible.

The digitalisation of food production will fully inform farmers and arm them with the ability to make the best decisions.

AgTech can achieve what is essentially an industrial revolution that will take our industry to the next level and allow us to remain key players in global food production.

It is opening-up new avenues to make real change in the sector and play a meaningful role in the productivity of farms across the country.

At the Struan Kybybolite demonstration site in the state’s southeast, Elders, in partnership with the state government, is developing a best-practice demonstration farm that allows us to test AgTech extensively in a commercial setting in order to assess viability.

And while productivity is one goal, sustainability is another equally important one that can be achieved with the assistance of AgTech innovation.

Increasingly, innovations aren’t limited to just improving a farm’s productivity, but to helping lessen the environmental impacts of farming and improve the farm’s long-term sustainability.

AgTech, and those who are working in the innovation sector, are having real impacts on sustainability. Farmers are also taking part in carbon reduction, waste minimisation and improved animal stewardship.

Cereal cropping at Crystal Brook, 200km north of Adelaide. Picture: Tabitha Runkel

While the pandemic has presented a multitude of challenges for our industry, it has also hot-housed digital adoption and whet an appetite for investing in innovation and AgTech.

Let us not waste this atmosphere. Let’s take this as an opportunity to adopt, harness and continue to cultivate a culture of growth and innovation within this state to propel us towards our growth ambitions.

Elders was born in Adelaide in 1839 and we remain proudly South Australian based. Some of our SA clients have been working with us for six generations. Sir Thomas Elder, who began the Elders business, helped to progress the prosperity of SA. He was a businessman, philanthropist, politician, great advocate for education, and visionary for the future of SA’s industries and people. Sparked by him, the sustainability of this state and its people, communities and industries remain an important subject for us.

We at Elders carry this incredible legacy and I feel a great responsibility to make sure we continue to play a key role in helping SA’s people and economy to prosper by investing resources in the future of its industries and remaining committed to achieving an ambitious vision for the state’s future.

Elders will always be for a bigger and better SA.

* Mark Allison is Elders chief executive