Reflecting on the innovation taking place across Queensland agriculture

November is Queensland AgTech Month, presenting industry an opportunity to highlight the innovative technologies that are assisting in driving sustainability, productivity, and profitability on Queensland farms.

The latest technological advances in agriculture are driving greater efficiency across a range of domains, including water use and energy consumption, chemical and fertiliser applications, and labour-saving advancements.

These technologies are essential to the future of Australian farming, as input costs continue to rise and the farm labour force contracts. I’ve recently experimented with drones for spraying on our own farming enterprise and can see significant potential to gain efficiencies and costs savings in doing so.

Beyond the automation and precision this technology enables, there are also the practical benefits of being able to do the work when larger heavy machinery may not be able to get into the field, due to poor weather or other circumstances.

We’re still in the early days for a lot of these technologies and it will be exciting to watch them develop further in the years to come.

We are seeing extensive innovation in the utilisation of digital technologies across the QFF commodity membership. Whether that be the uptake of automated irrigation in the sugarcane and horticulture sectors, the precision robotic and drone technologies that are becoming more common on Queensland cotton farms or the digital collars and other advancements that are improving animal health, welfare and productivity in dairy and the intensive livestock industries.

Mobile phones are an often overlooked but essential part of modern farming, with a range of apps to help identify weeds and pests on farm, manage bookkeeping and track on farm processes.

QFF has been assisting industry with the uptake of digital technologies through a range of workforce and energy efficiency programs, including our AgTech Officer Placement Program and SmartAg Queensland.

In 2025 the Asia Pacific's premier agrifood innovation conference AgriFutures’ evokeAG ?will be hosted in Brisbane for the first time. ?Learn more by visiting https://www.evokeag.com/evokeag-2025/

Australian agriculture is known globally by our appetite for innovation but at the end of the day any tech adoption must make a difference to an enterprise for the investment to be worthwhile. Farmers are not interested in tech for the sake of tech and are seeking support to make informed decisions when it comes to incorporating the appropriate technology into their businesses.