The Smart Farm digital remote monitoring to improve horticultures’ environmental performance project is a multi-stakeholder, multi-industry, collaborative project focused on building innovative digital smart farms, to drive improvements in soil and water resource management by key horticultural industries in sensitive catchments across the Great Barrier Reef in Queensland. Applied Horticultural Research (AHR) leads the on-ground activities and Hitachi Vantara is providing the tools to collect real-time monitoring data combined with a user-friendly interface. More information here.

Smart Farm Fact Sheets

The following Fact Sheets have been developed by AHR to provide an update on the project, pilot farms, and installation of sensors. Click the images below to download fact sheets.

Freshcare involvement

The Freshcare Environmental Program provides a certification pathway for the Australian fresh produce industry to demonstrate third-party certification to a globally recognised standard. The Freshcare Environmental Program is closely aligned to the resources provided by industry BMPs including EnviroVeg, Banana BMP, and Hort 360, and is therefore being used to provide the audit framework for the Pilot Farms – Bananas; Vegetables, and Avocados.

Freshcare continues to work with each of the project partners to assist in aligning a pathway for certification outcomes to be achieved by the Pilot Farms, to provide a Smart solution for growers that will reduce time spent monitoring and record-keeping and increase efficiency in resource use and management of on-farm environmental practice.

Project Funding

This project is being delivered by Hort Innovation – with support from the Australian Government Department of Agriculture, Water and the Environment as part of it’s National Landcare Smart Farming Partnerships Program – and the following Project Partners: Hort Innovation; Applied Horticultural Research; Hitachi; Greenlife Industry Australia; AUSVEG; Australian Banana Growers’ Council; Avocados Australia; Growcom; Landcare and Freshcare Limited.

Smart Farm Project Partners