University of Southern Queensland (USQ) agriculture technology research is helping shape the landscape of farming not just in Australia, but worldwide. USQ researchers are exploring new intelligence based technologies and solutions for the agricultural industry to deliver real value to farmers and change the way primary producers look at land management and production.
Thanks to an ongoing partnership with John Deere, USQ research is lifting farm productivity, developing the next generation of agricultural technology, including machine automation and control, such as driverless tractors. This global partnership with John Deere, along with investments from both USQ and various funding bodies, is helping provide a gateway for the commercialisation of other technologies to take worldwide related to machine perception and intelligence for applications such as automated weed management systems.
USQ’s Professor Craig Baillie said this global commercialisation strategy was a shining example of researchers working collaboratively with industry to understand problems facing the sector, to determine what new technologies would benefit farmers in the future. “This research partnership will not only benefit Australian communities but also international industries, which illustrates the global reach and relevance of USQ’s research efforts in agricultural engineering,” Professor Baillie said.
“It also highlights the importance that international organisations are giving to the development of future technologies that will transform agricultural industries over the years to come. High tech farming is becoming an everyday tool for primacy producers, therefore, our researchers are consistently looking to improve the profitability, environmental sustainability and socio-economic wellbeing of our rural industries.”
Work for the technology was originally funded through a combination of industry research projects between Sugar Research Australia, Cotton Research Development Corporation, Horticulture Innovation and USQ, and has spanned the last 10 years.
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