Farmers Making Their Way into Australian Agriculture

By using the right amounts of agrochemicals, robots can help farms use fewer of them, which reduces expenses and the impact they have on the environment.

FREMONT, CA: Farmers in Australia are using robots to pick, sow, and water crops, which is a huge step towards addressing skills shortages and improving environmental outcomes because farmers have struggled to find enough pickers, the usage of fruit and vegetable picking robots has been very helpful. On a farm in Tasmania, robots are used to collect strawberries and blueberries. The robot runs along lines between rows of fruit and has cameras to detect when a berry is ready to be picked.

Farmers believe such robots will be more effective at detecting and selecting ripe fruit without bruising or damage, work faster than human pickers, and function 24 hours a day. The robots will provide growers with peace of mind if they are unable to locate enough workers. They do not replace work, however, but they supplement a farm's capability. Robots, it appears, do not acquire Covid-19, do not roll an ankle, and are reasonably trustworthy employees.

Due to travel limitations related to Covid-19, the regular flow of 35,000 temporary migrant workers needed by Australian farmers to assist with picking was stopped. Due to a global worker shortage and Australia's current low unemployment rates, farmers are still having trouble filling posts after the borders were opened. According to academics, robots will be able to manage Australia's unemployment problem, boost agricultural productivity, save money, and ensure that water and chemicals are used more wisely.

Private investors have helped to fund the development of devices that assess crop maturity, allowing remote monitoring of livestock such as sheep and cattle. Robots can help reduce pesticide and fertiliser usage by administering the precise amounts required, saving costs as well as the farm's impact on the environment. A genuine revolution is currently taking place, intending to measure a change in farming practices and the way farmers generate food. Agriculture's goal is to greatly change farming techniques and the way farmers produce food, and this revolution is already happening.