5 April 2022 – The Australian Agritech Association (AusAgritech) has today responded to the launch of the Government’s new Digital Agriculture Strategy on Friday.
Though the peak body for Australia’s agri-food techs welcomes the investment in digital agriculture and establishment of the National Centre for Digital Agriculture announced on Friday, AusAgritech calls for a coherent national strategy that spans all agri-food tech and includes a federal cross departmental approach.
Tracey Martin, CEO of AusAgritech says the new digital strategy is a good start. “We hope this leads to greater consideration of how the private sector agri-food tech community can collaborate with the numerous government led initiatives for mutually rewarding outcomes. For AusAgritech, success means better results with farmers via higher adoption and the integration of technology developed, implemented, and serviced by our members. Our goal is to build a world-class Agritech sector that contributes $20Bn to the $100Bn national target for agriculture and develops a $20Bn+ a year industry of technology exports and opportunities.”
“We remain very optimistic about what is possible in Australia if we can get alignment between government initiatives and the private sector for agri-food tech. The implications for productivity, profitability and new jobs is vast, with commercial benefits right across the agri-food supply chain.” she said.
As stated in AusAgritech’s Election Statement released in February, digital agriculture is just one part of the standalone agri-food tech sector. Agri-food tech also contemporaneously crosses over into energy, water, sustainability, environment, climate, industry and emissions reduction. Australia’s world leading agri-food tech sector is on the frontline enabling on-farm and supply chain adoption of technology. It is the cornerstone of transforming the way we farm, how the supply chain operates, drives a world leading export reputation and is a key enabler of sustainability and climate adaptation through the development of commercial and scaled applied technology solutions. Headlining the strategy is the announcement of a ‘National Centre for Digital Agriculture’. In the media release published on Friday, the Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment said it would work closely with key industry players including organisations such as the Australian Agritech Association.
“We welcome this commitment to working closely with the Australian Agritech Association. Australia already has a strong agri-food tech sector encompassing leaders in the fields of remote asset management, farm management software, robotics, precision agriculture, carbon measurement and
others. These Australian innovators already have boots on the ground, working each day with Australian farmers and the broader agri-food supply chain.”
“We will need to wait and see how the digital agriculture strategy will work with the breadth of the burgeoning Australian agri-food tech sector,” said Ms Martin. “As acknowledged by the government, these successful businesses should be front and center in all strategies for agri-food tech adoption,” Ms Martin added.
AusAgritech awaits the finer details of the digital agriculture strategy. Whilst the digital agriculture strategy does not make it clear how the agriculture, innovation, regional Australia and industry portfolios would collaborate on the growth of the entire agri-food tech sector, AusAgritech is optimistic at the level of investment and commitment from the government to digital agriculture.
AusAgritech looks forward to working closely with the National Centre for Digital Agriculture to boost the profitability of the Australian agri-food sector, create more jobs and position Australia as a leader in the agri-food tech sector.
The Australian Agritech Association is building a world-class agri-food tech sector that has the potential to add $40Bn per annum value accretion to the Australian economy.
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Media enquiries
Kara-Glenn Worth
Marketing & Membership Engagement Manager, Australian Agritech Association
+61 419 704 699 | marketing@ausagritech.org
About Australian Agritech Association
AusAgritech Association is the peak body for Agritech in Australia, on a mission to shape the future of Agritech in Australia, and its contribution to the Australian economy. AusAgritech was established to put Australia at the forefront of global Agritech innovation, and aspires to drive maximum benefit from Australia’s continued investment in research innovation, ecosystem collaboration and digital strategies that enable new jobs, increase productivity and build sovereign capital. AusAgritech Association’s 150+ membership consists of leading Agritech’s in Australia as well as Universities, research bodies, SMEs and startups in the space.
