Farm innovation showcased

Participants also got to see inside the farm gate with tours to a robotic dairy and a farm with a strong emphasis on energy efficiencies.

Food and Fibre Great South Coast CEO Nicole Newman said the showcase was an opportunity to hear from experts in their fields and see farming innovation in practice.

“It was a great chance for us to showcase the amazing people that impact the dairy sector and all the small businesses that are producing and value adding to dairy produce,” Nicole said.

All local produce was featured during the showcase dinner at Deakin University.

Food and Fibre Great South Coast Chair and dairy farmer Oonagh Kirkpatrick said the event aimed to showcase new technologies and encourage all farmers to think about innovation.

Nicole said the event had been a success and she hoped more would follow.

At the dinner, Fonterra Farm Performance Manager – Farm Source, Gavin Hunt, outlined his journey from Ireland where he played a key role in managing Farm Zero C, a groundbreaking initiative focused on achieving a climate-neutral dairy farm, to his work with Fonterra in enhancing innovation, economic viability, and environmental sustainability for primary producers.

Gavin said Australian dairy already had a great story to tell about carbon emissions, but had opportunities to build on that strength.

“There are big challenges to reach emissions targets, but any changes have to make sense and be practical for farmers,” he said.

Gavin works with farmers to implement farm environmental plans, and while they’re voluntary, already 50 per cent of Fonterra farmers have completed them.

“A productive and efficient farm is an environmentally friendly farm … they go hand-in-hand. If you can run an efficient business, your carbon emissions will start going down.”

Hydrogen industry specialist and hydrogen systems engineer at AMSL Aero, Simon Coburn, outlined some of the research and developments taking place to progress hydrogen-powered vehicles.

Simon said there could be many potential uses for hydrogen on farms, including using natural supplies, storing surplus electricity as hydrogen, as a diesel fuel replacement, for back-up power supply or for use in milk processing.

Senior Research Fellow at the Tasmanian Institute of Agriculture, within the University of Tasmania, Dr Megan Verdon, has been involved with several different research projects into virtual fencing, including how the technology works and how animals interact with it, benefits for pastures, labour and cow health and novel applications of the technology.

She told the dinner her research showed that the technology works and the animals adjust well to the different management system without it having a negative impact on their welfare.

Port of Portland CEO Greg Burgoyne also outlined the operations of the port and his role as a Great South Coast Economic Futures Project Steering Committee member.

Participants also got to visit Deakin Hycel’s proposed research program.

There were also visits to the Doolan family farm at Ecklin to see its innovation in energy generation and use and the Smith family farm at Nullawarren where a world-first rotary robotic dairy is in use.

Funding for the showcase was received from Agri Futures with support from the DemoDAIRY Prep.