• Charles Sturt University’s Global Digital Farm releases new Agtech to bring real-time data insights on livestock, crops and environmental conditions into high school agriculture classes
• The technology is first-of-its-kind in Australia giving students the edge with the latest resources when embarking on careers in agriculture and primary industries
• The Global Digital Farm Dashboard is available now to all high schools teaching Agriculture and Primary Industries
• The dashboard is also designed for farmers, researchers and industry by consolidating a range of Agtech advancements, boosting ag leaders’ decision-making power with real-time insights.

The Global Digital Farm (GDF), based within the Charles Sturt Agripark at Charles Sturt University in Wagga Wagga NSW, has broken new ground by developing a state-of-the-art Agtech dashboard that brings real-time farm management insights straight to the classroom. 

This resource is the first of its kind, Australia-wide.

Charles Sturt University and Pairtree Intelligence collaborated on the new Charles Sturt Global Digital Farm Dashboard, which consolidates a range of agricultural data in real time. This allows high school agricultural students to use this in their lessons, immersing themselves in livestock, crops and environmental conditions from the farm, in real-time, taking their agricultural studies to the next level.   

The GDF is a 2,000-hectare commercial, operating farm, set within the Charles Sturt Agripark, which is an innovation ecosystem dedicated to agricultural research, curated collaboration and sustainable production. This ‘landscape laboratory’ tests and validates the latest digital agricultural technologies (Agtech) to enable world-leading research for a more sustainable farming future. It serves as a hub for the collation of various digital technologies that harness agricultural data.

Charles Sturt’s Head of Digital and Sustainable Agriculture Mr Jonathan Medway said the dashboard is the latest advancement for the GDF when it comes to Agtech innovation.

“The Charles Sturt Global Digital Farm Dashboard is a highly intuitive tool that integrates a range of information sources into a unified dashboard that empowers users to make smarter decisions with real-time insights,” Mr Medway said.

“It’s also a brilliant resource for farmers, researchers, industry and now high school agriculture students to get the edge on their peers and when entering the ag sector.”

Mr Medway said the dashboard gives each user, including teachers and high school students, direct access to live farm data.

“This innovative platform allows educators to explore, analyse and learn from real-world agricultural operations, bridging the gap between classroom theory and practical farming applications,” he said.

“It allows students to apply live data, delivered from an actual commercial livestock operation to the lessons and theories taught in the classroom. They can monitor and explore crop and livestock performance, weather and soil metrics, machinery and input usage, sustainability and environmental indicators.”

Charles Sturt Director of the Global Digital Farm, Agripark Mr Mark Bourne said the platform was designed with Agriculture and Primary Industries teachers in mind.

“This groundbreaking tech is particularly suited to those teaching HSC Ag stage 5-6, so it aligns well with the curriculum,” Mr Bourne said.

“Not only do students learn and gain insights from real-world data, but they also learn how the latest digital technologies are used on farms. Knowledge that will no doubt place them ahead of the pack when they graduate.

“This highlights Charles Sturt’s commitment to agriculture and technology, and also to educating the next generation of Australian farmers in precision agriculture.”

Mr Scott Graham is the Head of Agriculture at Barker College in Sydney, where the number of Agriculture students has doubled over the past decade. He was among the first to adopt the GDF dashboard in the classroom.

"I point out to students that working in agriculture doesn't necessarily mean working on a farm. In fact, 75 per cent of agriculture jobs are off farm,” he said.

“I think when they realise that and discover the breadth of jobs available in this vital industry, many embrace the idea of pursuing a career in agriculture.

"Using the GDF dashboard to teach Agriculture is great because it gives us access to experimental data at scale that we cannot have at a school level. This helps students see the science, technology and engineering that is present across the agricultural supply chain and helps them see how they might be involved.”

Mr Graham said the dashboard tied in well with the HSC curriculum, particularly regarding experimental design, data collection and significance, tracking technologies and automation.

"Students also learn about the latest Agtech devices and see how technology can be utilised in agriculture to improve efficiency, and how they might be involved in off-farm agricultural roles in Agtech or more broadly,” he said.

Agtech data specialists Pairtree Intelligence were engaged to build the dashboard, which integrates the many different data sets generated by the range of digital technologies at the GDF, enabling users to access all through a single login.  

“We jumped at the chance to develop the dashboard for schools,” Co-Founder of Pairtree Intelligence Hamish Munro said.

“Those kids are our farming future, so for them to experience the power of data and what benefits Agtech can bring to agriculture is a great thing.

“They are the generation who won’t think twice about incorporating Agtech into every aspect of production in years to come. By exposing these kids to how sophisticated and high-tech some aspects of agriculture have become might inspire some of them to consider a career in Ag for the first time.”

For further information or for your school to sign up to this free, Agtech classroom teaching resource, visit www.csu.edu.au/global-digital-farm 

ENDS