Riverine Plains members recently attended two days training provided by SPAA, formerly Southern Precision Agriculture Association, at the Waite Campus of the University of Adelaide. Presenters from SPAA, CSIRO, Universities and commercial equipment and service providers built a picture over the two days of what is possible, what is achievable, what’s not and many hints to enable the practical adoption of site specific agricultural techniques by farmers.
Workshops on day two gave participants the chance to see the commonly available software from Agleader, Farmworks and PAM demonstrated by people experienced in their use. It was generally agreed that all the software programs are good; which one you choose depends on where you can access support.
A key point emerging from the training is that PA is a tool to enhance existing knowledge by indicating where in a field to apply traditional agronomic skills to further investigate crop performance. Farmers should not feel threatened by this emerging technology; it should be embraced as a useful tool to be applied after the basics of timely work, good nutrition, weed and disease control to enhance efficiency of production.
SPAA will be running training sessions in regional areas later this year. Growers should avail themselves of this opportunity as the training is first class. Learning PA is interesting as each exercise builds on and reinforces existing knowledge; repetition is the key!
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