Talk of a national tree change movement more than talk...
In today's copy of The Australian Bernard Salt, managing director of the Demographics Group, highlighted that a growing number of regional areas are experiencing positive net migration - busting the myth of regional decline.
Protecting the farm sector's fastest growing asset
With all that’s transpired in 2020, you’d be forgiven for overlooking an announcement from the National Farmers’ Federation in February, when Australia’s first Farm Data Code was released to the public.
The Code was the culmination of 2 years’ work by a coalition of farmers, academics and agtech innovators – working together to set the ground rules for how Australia’s agricultural data is managed.
The origins of the Code can be traced back further than 2 years, to the cross-industry Precision 2 Decision project co-funded by the rural research and development corporations and the Commonwealth Government. That project surveyed more than 1,000 producers to understand their concerns about embracing digital technology. It also took a global scan of what leading countries were doing to stay ahead of disruption.
The findings were stark. Australian producers understood that data was a business asset that was growing in value, but they were
reluctant to entrust it to the proliferation of services vying for their business. Precision 2 Decision also found that Australia was falling behind jurisdictions like the US, New Zealand and the EU – who had already moved to protect farm data through regulatory and self-regulatory means.
The NFF convened the Farm Data Working Group to close that gap. The Farm Data Code aims to clarify the expectations for business who manage agricultural data. It covers how the data is used, shared and managed by those companies.
Since launch, a number of innovative technology companies have been undergoing a process of comparing their practices against the Code, and updating and aligning the terms of their agreements with growers.
The NFF will shortly commence its first review of the Code, welcoming feedback from farmers and data aggregators on whether its provisions are striking the right balance between enabling innovation, and keeping farmers’ data
secure. We are also exploring a certification model, to help farmers make informed choices about which products comply with these rules.
The Australian Farm Institute estimates that digitisation of Australian agriculture could add $20.3 billion to our annual output – propelling us towards our $100 billion goal. But with such enormous disruption comes new risks for farm businesses to manage. The Farm Data Code is one step we’re taking to ensure we’re keeping pace with those challenges.
