Smart Farming – Australia gets its first fully automated commercial farm

Charles Sturt University and the Food Agility Co-operative Research Centre (CRC) partnered to build the Global Digital Farm – Australia’s first fully-automated commercial farm, demonstrating the future of farming through robotics and artificial intelligence. The 1600-hectare Global Digital Farm is a centre for research, innovation, education, and community outreach and uses our world-class research and development capability in agriculture to help ensure the next generation of Australian farmers is at the forefront of innovation.

In addition to developing best practice models for the various technologies involved in the Global Digital Farm, the Food Agility CRC and Charles Sturt University will use the opportunity to develop our understanding of carbon management and evidence-based sustainability practices. Australian agriculture is going through an interesting phase of technological development as we move towards a net-zero carbon footprint for agriculture. The Global Digital Farm aims to use technology to work towards a carbon-neutral, hands-free operation.

The automated farm includes various technologies, including fully autonomous machinery such as tractors, harvesters, survey equipment, and drones. Farm operations will be streamlined using artificial intelligence to better inform decision-making, while state-of-the-art cyber security will protect the farm from emerging cyber threats. Sensing technologies will be used to enhance the performance of plants, soils, and animals.