New agronomy initiative to supercharge Ag industry

Leading seed provider Pacific Seeds has announced a new initiative which promises to deliver new technological solutions and help farmers navigate the emerging technological revolution in agriculture.

Foundation Farm is an innovation hub for ag-tech that will provide a trial site for emerging technological and data-based solutions to the increasingly complex challenges facing modern farmers and agronomists, such as increasing input costs and climate variability.

Pacific Seeds Summer Grains Agronomist Trevor Philp said that this program will not only assess new technologies but will also act as a foundation for innovative research that will significantly benefit the whole community.

“We are excited about the potential benefits this project will deliver to the current farming community, but also to many future farmers as well,” said Mr Philp.

“With new technologies and start-up businesses emerging every day, deciding on the best solutions for your farm can be a confusing and challenging decision.

“Growers and agronomists need somewhere these technologies can be tested, and their value proven.

“While this hub will be used to test and demonstrate the value of new technologies and management techniques prior to implementation on farms, Pacific Seeds also identified a real demand for every day practical solutions and the need for a centre to educate young farmers and agronomists.

“As new data-driven systems for sustainable and efficient farming emerge, the need to bring together innovative likeminded businesses, researchers and farmers has never been more apparent.”

The Foundation Farm site is situated on the outskirts of the Southern Queensland town of Allora and consists of approximately 32 hectares of black clay loam soil and provides capability for both irrigated and dryland farming systems for key crops such as grain sorghum, forage sorghum and corn.

“We will begin planting the first crops within the next few weeks with plans for an official launch in early 2021,” said Mr Philp.

“Our preliminary focus will be technologies specifically targeted at summer crops, with growers being able to maximise the genetic potential of their crops through the use of optimised agronomy packages. As the program expands, we intend to diversify the target crops and even venture into livestock production systems.

Pacific Seeds have established Foundation Farm on five core pillars, comprising of new technology, crop protection, crop agronomy, sustainable farming systems, and training.

“We also hope this project can bring some economic benefit to the Allora community through the research results as well as the many visitors it will bring to the town.”