Some divisions of the farming industry in Australia are hastening to employ a new group of technologically advanced graduates. Besides using some of the traditional machinery, like Harrow, K-Line Ag added that the sector also plans to incorporate more technological methods. In the future, they plan to utilise automated sensors, drones, and robots as well.
The Sudden Need
The driving force behind this is the shortage of labour on the country’s remote farms that endangers their goal of becoming the food bowl of Asia. According to Felicity Hennessy, general manager of innovation at agribusiness Ruralco, technology in agriculture has made it easier to lure graduates to the sector.
For many years, budding candidates to agriculture were swayed by the tough appearance of traditional farming. Fortunately, the noticeable rush towards automation has ignited the attention of the younger generations. Their potential jobs now involve encoding data on cattle nutrition, improving crop-protecting drones, and other technologically inclined approaches.
The New Degrees
Several universities have now added new degrees, including agri-science, which brought a sharp increase in students with zero background in farming. For instance, Michael Forrai who is an engineering student was born in the city and he has never been on a farm in his life. Nevertheless, his study now consists of examining weed-spraying operations on robots in wheat fields.
Forrai admitted that he never planned on working on a farm, but he now views it as a great opportunity that he might stay in the field of agricultural robotics.
Australia is considered as a part of the globe’s frontrunners when it comes to robotics for outdoor usage. They were the ones who introduced the first robot who was able to round up cattle, which cost them around AUD 4 billion in agriculture technology.
The agricultural robotics industry is still at its early stages. For now, only a few businesses that are huge enough can recruit graduates and employ the technology, but it will likely become the norm sooner or later.