The Upper North Farming Systems (UNFS) held their flagship annual event at Melrose on 14 August.
UNFS collaborated with the Society of Precision Agriculture Australia (SPAA) and the Grains Research and Development Corporation to present the Grain Automate Expo.
More than 100 growers and agriculture figures from across the region attended the event. Unlike previous editions, UNFS engaged with SPAA bringing an Ag Tech Expo to the Upper North.
The expo gave farmers expert insights into the tools and innovations shaping the future of farming, from data-driven decision-making to automation and remote sensing.
UNFS chairman Michael Zwar said he was pleased with the event and what it had to offer growers.
“We had a diverse range of speakers for growers of all levels,” he said.
“The first half was spent inside with some presentations running through some of the more basic things.
“For the second half of the day we headed outside for machinery demonstrations and displays of different options for targeted weed management and AI and robotics.”
The expo featured five speakers giving presentations, including local farmers Jess and Joe presenting learnings from WA, Andrew Walter on autonomy, AI and data, interest rate risk manager Richard Copper, and excellence in technology national award recipient James Venning.
Mr Zwar was involved in the demonstration portion of the event, presenting drone-based weed detection, alongside Jordy Kitschke presenting the Flux Robotics weed control, and Andrew Sargent’s SwarmBot spot spraying demonstration.
Mr Zwar said feedback from the event was positive, with many saying the content was relevant and insightful.
“A big positive that we found was that the insights weren’t out of reach,” he said.
“The technology is here and readily available, and the learnings can be applied.”
Mr Zwar thought the event was effective in provoking attendees to reassess their inputs and the costs associated with growing their crops.
“I think it gave perspectives on the economics of doing things differently and integrating a more targeted approach,” he said.
