At Verge, we are on a mission to accelerate the transition to autonomous farming, and I’m pleased to announce that our new partnership with Grains Research and Development Corporation will bring us even closer to making truly autonomous farming a reality.
At the heart of this partnership with GRDC is an innovative on-farm operations optimization project, led by Verge Technologies Australia Pty Ltd. This exciting new project will see the development of a complete operational planning solution that will enable Australian growers to optimize multiple input costs, such as machinery, labour, fuel and oil, to increase profitability and sustainability.
To bring this solution to life, we will be collaborating with leading growers and precision ag consultants across Australia’s grain growing regions to further develop four key operations optimization and analytics tools:
- Equipment fleet and farm optimization
- Growing season path planning
- In-paddock operational logistics planning
- Analytical tools for cost-benefit analysis
Within this project, we will be building on the momentum of Verge Path Planner™: the only solution in-market that helps growers determine the precise paths of their equipment, by evaluating its impact on a field’s shape, size, and terrain complexity, to increase operational efficiencies. With solutions like Path Planner™ already revolutionizing the way Australian broad acre growers operate, we are ready to take the next step in partnership with GRDC.
It is an exciting prospect, and one we cannot wait to make a reality
In conjunction with GRDC, we will be collaborating with the Australian Controlled Traffic Farming Association, Viridis Ag, along with precision ag experts in each region. Agworld will also be a key integration partner throughout the project, helping Verge advantage existing grower data layers and extend our reach among Australian growers, agronomists, and consultants. Workshops, product communication, and extension materials will be delivered to demonstrate the potential of new ways to improve operational efficiencies and farm business profitability through analytics-based insights drawn from the project.
The success of this project will see tangible benefits for growers both now and well into the future. It is our vision that by February 2027, the Australian grains industry will have:
Widespread access to operations optimization tools that aid in seeding, spraying, fertilizer spreading, and harvest operations in-paddock for wheat, barley and canola operations; and In-depth knowledge of the financial benefits and practicalities of implementing those tools in different situations on-farm.
With these outcomes combined, the foundation will be set for the Australian grains industry to achieve a minimum net benefit of $15/ha p.a across at least 5% of the wheat, barley and canola hectares by 2031. It’s an exciting prospect, and one we can’t wait to make a reality.
