Welcome to one of Australia’s first
NBN-connected farms

The University of New England is slowly, but surely, transforming a 7000 acre commercial farm (‘Kirby Farm’ located 10 km north east of the campus) into a SMART Farm (SMART = sustainable, manageable and accessible rural technologies). With a new SMART Farmhouse currently under construction, and linked via terrestrial wireless connection to the national broadband network, the predominantly grazing SMART Farm will be a national demonstrator site showcasing the latest on-site technologies aimed at improving productivity, environmental sustainability, safety, workflow and social/business support networks on Australian farms.

In conjunction with project partners the Australian Centre for Broadband Innovation (ACBI) and the CSIRO, the UNE SMART farm will also serve as a ‘connected classroom’ where the community as well as students of all ages can access the latest data streaming in from a range of field, animal and machinery sensors.