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The Society of Precision Agriculture Australia (SPAA) has a new leadership team after the recent virtual Annual General Meeting.

The executive is:

• President Philip Honey, Environmental & Cropping Technologies Australia Director (Albany, WA)
• Vice president Dale Kirby, North West Local Land Services Extension Manager (Gunnedah, NSW)
• Treasurer Steve Carn, Farmer (Parilla, SA)
• Immediate past president Frank D’Emden, Precision Ag Agronomist (Perth, WA).

Committee members are:

• Denis Pozzebon, Sugar Cane Grower (Ayr, Qld)
• Julie O’Halloran, Department of Agriculture and Fisheries Senior Development Horticulturist (Gatton, Qld)
• Ben Heaslip, Rice Research Australia Farm Manager (Jerilderie, NSW)
• Rohan Rainbow, Crop Protection Australia Managing Director (Canberra, ACT)
• Jonathan Medway, Charles Sturt University Senior Research Fellow in Spatial Agriculture (Wagga Wagga, NSW)
• Chad Glover, Farmer and CC Agricultural Manager (Yeelanna, SA)
• Jamie Barwick, University of New England Precision Agriculture Lecturer and Researcher (Armidale, NSW).

Delivering his final president’s report, Frank D’Emden said the past year was notable for its significant challenges and upheaval.

He paid tribute to the late Wendy Weston, who died suddenly in January – just six months after replacing longtime SPAA executive officer Dr Nicole Dimos-Byrnes in the role.

“I want to recognise the extraordinary contribution that Wendy made to SPAA during the short time she was with us,” Frank said.

“She introduced some much-needed changes to the way we operate, very quickly came to understand the environment we work in and got some important projects across the line.”

Frank highlighted the continuing impact of COVID-19 restrictions on SPAA’s ability to complete projects and run events during the year.

However, he noted planning was underway for the first in-person Precision Agriculture Symposium in two years, to be held in conjunction with the South Australian PA expo in Adelaide and a celebration dinner to mark 20 years since SPAA was formed.

Retiring committee members Neale Postlethwaite – who joined the AGM from his tractor cab while seeding canola – Jessica Koch, Ben Pratt, Matt Notley and Jonathan Dyer were thanked for their service to the organisation.

Frank also announced the appointment of Dr Rachel Melland, who has been acting in the role, as SPAA’s new Executive Officer.

Speaking after the AGM, Phil Honey said he was looking forward to a return to hosting in-person events, increasing engagement with SPAA members and providing practical on-ground support to as many farmers as possible.

“I also look forward to seeing SPAA further cement its position as Australia’s renowned source of independent precision agriculture and digital agriculture advice, research, extension and training,” he said.

“SPAA has great knowledge networks throughout Australia, and actively supports farming organisations from their initial adoption phase through to full-blown ‘all-in PA’ operations. The networks extend well beyond the farm-gate to include leading machinery manufacturers and cutting edge researchers from a range of government, university and private organisations.

“No matter where you are farming or advising or what your experience levels in precision ag may be, there’s always someone in the industry willing to help and share their knowledge.”

Even as Australia’s borders reopen to international travellers, the pandemic continues to disrupt events across the country.

Ongoing uncertainty about the staging of events has forced the SPAA committee to make the difficult decision to postpone this year’s SA Precision Ag Expo, which was to have been held on March 24 at Two Wells.
A new date and other details will be communicated as they’re finalised.

Check spaa.com.au/events and keep an eye on our social media accounts for updates.

The Hands on Precision Ag Workshops have been made available with funding from:

UPDATE: Lockdowns and changing border restrictions have forced adjustment of the schedule for some of the interactive Hands on Precision Agriculture Training workshops. The southern NSW and Victoria workshops will now be held in early 2022. The new dates are at https://spaa.com.au/events

The second round of interactive Hands on Precision Agriculture Training workshops is underway across Australia.

The aim of the free workshops is to introduce farmers to precision agriculture (PA) techniques they can use to identify and manage variability, and improve productivity and profitability.

The topics for discussion are specific to each region and were chosen from issues raised by farmers in a 2020 survey.

The survey found a significant number of farmers had access to PA tools but did not use them. This included machinery data (25%), yield maps (24%) and spray maps (20%).

The most common reasons for not using them were: not having the right software (34%), never being shown how to use/create them (34%), and because they take too much time/effort (31%).

The first round of workshops held in early 2021 paved the way for farmers to start using some of the PA tools they already have – including mobile devices, computers and machinery-based platforms – and free or low-cost data for yield mapping, remote sensing, soil and pH mapping and in-season monitoring.

The second round of workshops will build on that experience and help participants gain a better understanding of how to use proven tools and techniques to devise strategies for forecasting and addressing variability in yield and profit.

SPAA leads the Grains Research and Development Corporation-funded project, with support from Birchip Cropping Group, Pinion Advisory, the Grower Group Alliance, FarmLink and Coutts J&R.

Details of workshop dates and locations will be available at https://spaa.com.au/events when confirmed.

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