AirAgri showcase state of the art location software at FarmFest Field Days in Toowoomba

Ag company AirAgri are one of dozens to display their new technology at this week’s FarmFest, highlighting a location software which is being used to keep farmers safe.

Royden Skeet from AirAgri at Farm Fest 2025

For Royden Skeet, the idea of farmer safety is near and dear to his heart.

Driving through the early morning dark on his New Zealand property, Mr Skeet drove straight into a head ditch leaving him unconscious, isolated and alone.

Now Mr Skeet and the team at AirAgri have developed a technology which they say will help keep other farmers safe and ensure help can find them in the event of an emergency.

The team showcased this technology at this week’s Toowoomba FarmFest.

“We provide a farm safety and management platform, we’ve created a program that sits within your traditional personal location devices that can send out an alert in the event you’re unable to,” he said.

“The prime example I give is my own experience I went through a head ditch at 4am in the morning and knocked myself out and that leads to the question: how do you push the button if you’re unconscious?

“What we are trying to do is bridge that gap, our co-founders James and Paul started this business out of their own family property farm so what we are trying to do is ensure our lone workers come home safe at the end of the day.”

Mr Skeet said the technology provided an exact location for rescue teams to find farmers on their properties.

“On these large properties it is phenomenally important that people can find you, you are out all day by yourself or potentially working in a pair but if you go down into a gully or are in some tall buffel grass finding someone within those locations even if you know approximately where they are could be extremely difficult,” he said.

“It's not just about these large property it can happen on smaller farms as well, buffel grass can grow five feet tall, how can you find someone in that environment if they go down?

“The technology works through a number of different avenues based on your individual needs.”

Mr Skeet praised FarmFest and encouraged people to come along and check out the technology on offer.

“It has been an education piece for everyone, people are telling us it is new and they haven't seen it before but much like any new technologies people want to see it in action and that’s what we are here to do today is show people the different options out there,” he said.

“Events like these bring everyone together, it is not just the public seeing our technologies, but an opportunity for us to network with our colleagues in the industry who are doing these great things.”