Potato farming with drones: Technology advancements in Western Australian horticulture

On April 11, 45 potato growers and industry stakeholders gathered near Pemberton for a high-tech field event coordinated by PotatoLink and the Potato Growers Association of WA. Weather conditions were ideal for the day to showcase the latest drones and associated technology used on Western Australian horticulture farms.

Technicians conducted field demonstrations with two types of drones taking flight across the fields and MPC Drone Ag Director Rhys Muir talking through the machine’s capacities and capabilities, battery life and maintenance.

Rhys Muir, Director at MPC Drone Ag

Grower Danny Omodei, whose family has been in Pemberton for 100 years, and farming spuds for 62 years, said like many great ideas the discussion about drones started over a few beers and soon progressed to integrating the machines into the farm practice.

Danny Omodei:

"I can’t speak highly enough of drones and what they can do. We have made mistakes and needed to work with our agronomists to develop the right mixes to use to get the best results. However, we have also seen great outcomes in terms of improved efficiencies, targeted applications and time savings."

Bronwyn Fox Chair of PGAWA, Simon Moltoni CEO of PGA WA, Danny Omodei potato Farmer

This demonstrations were followed by a presentation by Senior Development Horticulturist Julie O’Halloran, from Queensland Department of Primary Industries’ VegMech program, along with Queensland grower Bryce Lamb, who recently returned from a US study trip looking at advanced vegetable mechanisation to maximise labour and cost efficiency.

Local cabbage and cauliflower grower Jake Ryan also presented on the Open Weed Locator (OWL) open-source software for spot spraying, which was developed by researcher Guy Coleman. Jake is working on building his own weeding robot and encouraged growers to look into utilising the open-source instructions and to support building a larger online weed library.

Potato Growers Association of Western Australia CEO Simon Moltoni said the event’s popularity showed how important innovation and technology is for industry.

Simon Moltoni:

"It’s not easy to entice growers away from their farms, so to have such a strong turn out indicates that there is an appetite for advancement and efficiency improvements in production. Labour continues to be a challenge, as well as increasing costs of production, so if we can use new technology to reduce our overall costs, and increase our efficiencies, then growers are prepared to give it a try."

Simon Moltoni, CEO of Potato Growers Association of Western Australia

There was also a trade display at the event featuring:

• WA Potatoes: Smart Spud impact sensor technology.
• Coldahold: Tolsma Grisnich cool storage technology.
• Farmlink Rural: MAIT Irrigation monitoring and management systems.

The event was coordinated by the Potato Growers Association of Western Australia and PotatoLink , Hort Innovation, vegNet, QDPI and DPIRD.

Smart farming with drones