TECHNOLOGY IN FARMING

THE ELIZABETH MACARTHUR HIGHSCHOOL ARCHIBULL Elizabeth Macarthur Archibull. Created by the schools art students.

THE WHEAT INDUSTRY IN AUSTRALIA There are Over 30,000 wheat farms in Australia. The average size of a wheat farm is 1200 hectares Wheat is the most important crop in Australia, producing over 15 million tonnes a year. Every year in Australia 14,000 tonnes of wheat are milled into 10,000 tonnes of flour to make 33 million pizzas for Pizza Hut. Australian wheat, despite being called white wheat, is actually a creamy colour.

WHAT IS TECHNOLOGY? Technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially in industry. Technology is used in many different aspects of life such as; Communication, Research and Industries.

WHY DO FARMERS NEED AND USE TECHNOLOGY? By using technology farmers are able to produce more crops at a faster rate. Technology also allows to focus on multiple tasks at once. Agricultural technology can be used to plant, harvest, monitor crops, survey animals amongst many other uses.

FORMS OF TECHNOLOGY IN AGRICULTURE Mobile computing 4G networks Telematics Nitrogen utilization Mini-chromosome technology RFID technology Soil and crop sensors Electric drive systems Pervasive automation Hyper precision SCR/EGR engines BUS technology Autonomous vehicles Drones

DRONES Drones in agriculture are a safe and efficient way to; Find potentially yield limiting issues, monitor crop health, and monitor the land owned by the farmer. Many drones are simple to use making it easy for the farmer to do tasks that would usually take extensive periods of time. Drones are usually programmed to return to the point of take off, meaning there is less chance for it to get damaged upon landing. Many also have low repair costs making it easy for farmers to make their money back on the purchasing of the drone.

AUTONOMOUS TRACTORS Autonomous tractors allow a farmer to harvest, plant and control the growth of their crops without having to man a tractor. These tractors operate by using lasers that transfer signals off multiple mobile transponders located within the area. Most autonomous tractors have a single person controlling them from a remote point which allows the person or supervisor to control multiple tractors at one time without actually manning them which means that they can accomplish multiple tasks at once that would usually take a lot longer to complete.

LONG TERM ASPECT OF TECHNOLOGY The long term vison of technology is to have farms that require less labour and ultimately produce more products whilst still being eco friendly which would allow for a large boost in sales for farmers. By introducing more technology we allow for more jobs to be created within the engineering and science areas of agriculture without affecting the amount of jobs for farmers. Technology in farming is a extreme benefit to all people in the agricultural career path as well as every day consumers.

“We don’t inherit the land from our ancestors, we borrow it from our children.”