Highlights from Australian agrifood innovation.

The Australian Meat Processor Corporation's (AMPC) agile approach to solving industry problems is lowering barriers to new players and increasing the potential for solutions to be rapidly developed and implemented. 

How to reach $30 billion by 2030? Opportunities for the grains sector will be centred on feeding a hungry world with an increased demand for protein, as well as the strategic positioning of Australian grains into differentiated market sectors. GRDC is investing in RD&E that delivers impact on farm and supports the sector to better understand, grow and access these targets.

The University of New England has developed an app that makes it easier for avocado growers to forecast yields – and with greater accuracy. UNE’s CropCount team is now looking for partners to help scale CropCount to bring this advantage to other tree crop producers.

Nakatomi and Meat & Livestock Australia have developed a shoe insole medical IoT device with automated remote emergency alerts. Now they’re seeking commercial investors and manufacturers for development and distribution, with high value for healthcare and various WH&S applications. 

As it gets increasingly difficult to find reliable labour to pick acid-spurting mangoes in the tropical heat, a world-first automated harvester developed by Central Queensland University’s Fruitronics team and Hort Innovation, are now seeking commercial partnership from an agricultural equipment manufacturer.

Australian Wool Innovation is pioneering smart tags for sheep, giving producers the chance to track, monitor and assess their animals in real time – all the time. For an industry left behind in the smart tag race, it’s welcome news. 

It is a great time to be in rural research and innovation. There is a landslide of activity across agriculture, fisheries and forestries, all designed to deliver new technologies and opportunities to Australian farmers.

Each year, the Australian government, universities and industry invest billions of dollars in research to support agriculture, fisheries and forestry. There are 15 Research and Development Corporations (RDCs), 43 universities and hundreds of industry organisations and peak bodies, that currently house thousands of research projects. But, in order to find them, you need to know what you are looking for and where to look. Until now.

Over the years, cotton has been a major presence in the Australian farming and export industries. Accounting for up to 60% of the agricultural output in regions in which it is grown, the Australian cotton industry exports around $2 billion worth of cotton each year to China, Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, Indonesia, Turkey and Thailand. 

Simply put, cotton is big business. 

AgriFutures Australia and the University of Southern Queensland are seeking technology partners to commercialise novel video analysis software to better detect growth and welfare indicators of poultry flocks and enhance on-farm decision making.

Funded by the University of Southern Queensland and AgriFutures Australia’s Chicken Meat Program, mechatronic engineers Dr Cheryl McCarthy and Dr Derek Long have linked continual on-board image analysis, similar to face recognition, with a low-cost camera to provide regular updates on flock movement throughout the day.

The future of innovation in horticulture is bright and will underpin the production of produce that is good for Australia and the world. 

Hort Innovation’s Head of R&D Byron de Kock said, “We strive for balance across our Research, Development and Extension program that represents more than $400 million of investment. At one end of the spectrum, we strive to transform and revolutionise through initiatives in biotechnology and robotics. At the other end, we seek to protect current production through biosecurity, crop protection, pest and disease control investments.”

Australians produce over 74 million tonnes of waste per year, with the amount of waste produced by farmers, fishers and foresters presenting a significant challenge. Limited support and practical options exist to avoid waste in the first place or manage it as part of the production process. 

The pre-farm gate waste program has been launched to support innovative ideas and options for the avoidance, recycling and reuse of pre-farm gate waste, and ensure there is clear direction and coordination of activities for the sector to achieve the required change.  

Can agrifood tech innovation help to harness the rising value of Australia’s wild harvest Kakadu plum – and secure its place in the cosmetics industry? Well, WA sunscreen brand, We Are Feel Good Inc. has done just that – and consumer demand is growing.

Kakadu plum has earned its status as one of Australia’s key native species – offering huge market potential. Almost exclusively wild harvested, production of the in-demand superfood extends from Broome, right across the Top End of Australia and into Queensland.