With the goal of creating an integrated digital platform to help famers make informed decisions in real-time, two pilot ‘Smart Farms’ have been established at AustChilli, a Bundaberg-based growing operation.

The smart farms have been set up as part of a new project investigating the role of remote monitoring and data collection in improving Australian horticulture’s environmental credentials and performance.

At the pilot farms, information from soil moisture probes, dendrometers, and weather stations feed back into a single control platform allowing managers to access live data when making crop management decisions.

Flyers detailing the projects activities and the sensors being used on-farm are available here:

• Avocado Smart Farm
• Vegetable Smart Farm

For project updates and invitations to project events, please sign up here.

These pilot farms have been established as part of the project Digital remote monitoring to improve horticulture’s environmental performance (ST19024) funded through the Australian Government’s Landcare Smart Farming Partnerships program and being delivered through Hort Innovation.