Opportunity for research on 'clever systems'

September 26, 2007

Researchers at the University of New England are working with leading farm businesses in a project aimed at integrating modern spatial information into practical whole-farm management systems.

The UNE project, called "Clever Cattle and Cropping Systems" and funded by the Cooperative Research Centre for Spatial Information, is seeking a postgraduate researcher for a detailed study of the new technologies that provide such information, and how that information can fit into practical farm management.

The new technologies include satellite imaging, on-ground sensing of crop and pasture growth, unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) that fly across fields to capture high-resolution data, and global positioning systems on the collars of grazing cattle (as pictured here).

One of the researchers on the project, Professor Jim Scott from UNE's Centre for Sustainable Farming Systems, said: "Although it's clear that spatial information captured through these new technologies has great potential to provide economic and environmental benefits, we need to understand how it can be employed most efficiently in farm decision making."

"This is an exciting area of interdisciplinary research," Professor Scott continued. "The successful applicant will be working with experts in precision agriculture, physics, biology, soil science and farming systems, along with leading-edge farmers hungry for the outcomes. If Australia is to become a 'clever country' we need talented young scientists in positions such as this."

The leader of the "Clever Cattle and Cropping Systems" project, UNE's Associate Professor David Lamb, said that some of the latest technology available to farm managers (including unmanned aerial vehicles and GPS cattle-tracking collars) would be on display during an Open Day at UNE's McMaster Research Station, Warialda, on October 19. "Agriculture is as much about new technologies as are the IT and medical sectors," Dr Lamb said.

For more information on the "Clever Cattle and Cropping Systems" project and the research position, contact Associate Professor David Lamb on (02) 6773 3565 (dlamb@une.edu.au) or Professor Jim Scott on (02) 6773 2436 (Jim.Scott@une.edu.au), or see details of the postgraduate position at: http://www.une.edu.au/csfs/postgrads.php.

For more information on the McMaster Research Station Open Day, contact Dr Chris Guppy on (02) 6773 3567 (cguppy@une.edu.au) or go to: http://www.une.edu.au/csfs/news/

Posted by Jim Scanlan at September 26, 2007 10:03 AM