Farms and farmhouses are going digital as technology starts to reinvent everything from cattle to crops, a trend that’s only just getting started.

Roger Todd, a wheat and canola farmer who also runs some cattle on his property near Condobolin in NSW, has seen technology slowly creep in to nearly every part of his farm over the last decade.

“We started with simple GPS-backed spraying, but now have fully integrated touch screens in both tractors and are moving toward auto steering,” he says.

“We’re collecting information on nearly everything we do these days and that’s making a big impact on efficiency and costs, especially in terms of how we work our paddocks.

“Sure, there’s been a learning curve, and we still have problems with mobile and broadband reception, but being able to turn all that collected information in to practical applications is a big plus.”

Roger isn’t the only farmer out there dealing with a whole new way of doing things on the land now that primary produce is going high-tech. There are a lot of different names for it – precision agriculture, controlled traffic farming or prescription farming, to name a few – but the basics remain the same as technology is increasingly embedded in to machinery, buildings, fields, fences and even livestock to deliver accurate, real time information that can be analysed by and re-worked as smart software and computer programs.

GPS, with its ability to accurately track and map the earth in ever smaller segments (some farmers already achieve a 2cm accuracy level), has led the farm invasion and nearly all machinery now comes with inbuilt tracking and computer guidance already on board. But it’s increasingly being bolstered with remote aerial and satellite pictures, on-the-go soil, yield and water monitors, variable rate technology to control seed and fertiliser, and sensors, cameras and electronic readers so that herds can be managed far more precisely than in the past.

Water use is one example of system monitoring and a project by the CSIRO in NSW is showing just what’s possible by using a mix of technologies. The system uses on-ground weather stations in conjunction with satellite, computer, and irrigator feedback to estimate how much water is needed by crops each day, sending a text to the farmer’s mobile phone once the amount has been determined.

According to Dr Don Yule from Controlled Traffic Farming Solutions, adoption of many of these more advanced agriculture systems is still only about 20% of all farming, led by broad acre cropping sectors like grains and canes.

But it is growing.

“It will continue to expand because it delivers all sorts of financial, productivity and operational benefits fairly quickly,” he says.

“The ability to reduce overlapping in fields, identify paddock problems and design around them, tightly control seed and fertiliser quantities, or fine tune water and irrigation requirements is a major step forward.

“And over time the data just builds up and this is where maps, graphs and software programs can really deliver the farmer some powerful tools, not the least of which is the ability to program and automate machinery to do what’s most efficient.”

While satellite-based GPS can be beamed down to farms fairly easily with the right equipment, much of the backup and other technologies to help make all that information so useful still depends on robust connectivity. And that’s a problem for many farmers.

“There’s a lot of intelligence being created on farms now, but connectivity will be crucial to making it useful,” David Lamb from the University of New England (UNE) says.

UNE is currently setting up a ‘smart farm’ research and demonstration project.

“There are all these companies that will either want to remotely diagnose and support farmers with their smart machinery, or who can help them better understand and apply the new technologies, and that needs seamless communication.

“But it’s not just work either. Urban homes are connecting to fast broadband and people in the country will also want to go online for health, business, shopping, education and leisure to make the most of what’s happening out there.”

There’s no doubt that internet use on farms is growing rapidly. In 2008, 66% of farms were using the web for business operations – up from 56% in 2005. But, as farmers increasingly take up a whole suite of new technologies and buy smart gadgets and machinery every year, there’s real pressure to be able to store and process data on home computers, send real time information from anywhere on the farm, and have access to online or mobile-based backup from the companies selling the new machinery or from experts who can help interpret and apply what the information means on the ground.

Many farmers currently use wireless or satellite technology to underpin their operations, but this can be patchy depending on where the farm is located in Australia. Some are hopeful that the National Broadband Network (NBN) will help smooth out some of those issues as it begins to deliver on faster and better internet access across the country.

Unfortunately for most farmers, that’s not going to mean fibre-to-the-farmhouse any time soon as NBN Co says the most remote geographical areas (around 7% of the nation’s population) will have to rely on network technologies like wireless and satellite.

NBN Co manager of stakeholder relations Duncan Bremner says nothing is set in concrete.

“75% of regional Australia will get access to fibre, but in other areas it will be a mix of options depending on geography, population density and the commercial opportunities or partners on the ground,” he says.

“Certainly we’re talking to farming communities to make sure that network and broadband solutions really do answer the technological needs of farmers, particularly as they rapidly change.”

With technology in the country air, it would seem that there’s likely to be a growing market for electricians and installers who can help farms make the digital switchover.

But it is one that needs a lot of nurturing.

According to Smart Wired accredited installer John Cochrane from Glynncorp Electrical in Tatura, Victoria, the call from farmers and other rural residents to date has been less about whole house networking and more on renewable and efficient energy use.

“We’re still doing smart wiring for control, and there are always clients who want all the bells and whistles, but the bigger demand is definitely focused on solar power and hot water,” John says.

In fact there’s a lot of interest from farmers in taking the next step and creating solar farms as just one more way to generate income.

“There’s certainly a lot of technology appearing on farms these days, and it’s generating a lot more focus on farms and farmhouses having the computers and the capacity to handle it all, but that’s still evolving.”

The National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA) sees it more as an emerging market at this point.

“The NBN should open up lots more opportunities for smarter farms and rural communities, and that means new markets for electricians and installers,” says media and communication manager Dominic Feenan.

“The critical issue is that our members get access to information and training that can help them really develop and then promote this side of their business.”

Providing critical technological support, advice and information is a critical part of building and supporting the market as farmers race to get on top of all sorts of smart machinery, devices, computer programs and related data.

While some farmers are very clearly taken with the new farm order and are on top of the technical issues, there are still many more that are struggling or are unsure of just how to start tapping in to the possibilities.

“Farmers have always had a mechanical focus and so it’s probably not the huge stretch it may seem, but still this is a very diverse group and not everyone likes computers,” David says.

“Getting the bulk of farmers and farms over the technological line is the next priority and it’s an area that smart companies can really move into to provide expert knowledge and backup.”

One farmer who can see the value of technology is Mark Swift, who runs a 3,400 hectare property near Parkes in NSW that does continual cropping on winter cereals and canola. He says his farm has taken up new technologies progressively over the last decade, including fully controlled traffic on fields on a 2cm guidance, and an irrigation and run design based on spatial and field monitoring data.

“We see definite pay back in simply moving from hand to auto steer, but it’s a different language to learn,” he says.

“While there are some wonderful technologies appearing, not all of it works in unison and we’re definitely held back by poor broadband. It really is a process of hastening slowly.”