In a statement, the CSIRO said the new Rural Intelligence Platform used artificial intellignece, machine learning and cloud-based geospatial technology to deliver its results.
It will draw on trusted data sources to obtain statistics on productivity, water access, yield, land use, crop type, rainfall and drought impact.
The Rural Intelligence Platform uses satellite imagery to track paddocks and their performance over time. It also incorporates information from Australia’s digital soil map while climate information is interpreted to show drought, frost, heat stress for livestock and other risks.
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“The Rural Intelligence Platform will help the agribusiness community [to] calculate the risks associated with certain investments or management decisions.”
Digital Agriculture Services claimed economic decisions affecting about $125 billion of agriculture were based on unreliable or incomplete data.
“The platform provides accurate information that can help to identify vulnerability or the most promising options for investment that will build resilience,” Dr Robertson said.
“This is a whole new model for rural analytics which will make it easier to quantify risk and prepare for challenges like climate volatility and change.”
DAS chief executive Anthony Wilmott said: “Digital agriculture is far more than just on-farm technology, it’s also about improving off-farm decision making and this platform lays the foundation for Australia to become a leader in new generation agricultural analytics.
“This is about supporting the ecosystem that supports the farmer – ensuring that farmers, business, policy makers and anyone invested along the agricultural ecosystem has the right rural data to make more informed decisions.”