Australian vegetable industry embraces robotics to tackle labour expenses and rising input costs
As Australia’s vegetable industry grapples with high labour expenses and herbicide resistance, a shift towards advanced robotic technology seems inevitable. “We sometimes have to forget what our fathers have done and start with a blank canvas,” says a prominent vegetable grower.
The Australian vegetable market presents ample opportunities for robotic manufacturers. Operating costs are high, and it is clear that growers need to adopt more efficient production methods. Hort Innovation and the Queensland Department of Agriculture and Fisheries, in collaboration with GOFAR and Farms Concept, have launched a 4.1 million AUD (US $2.77M) initiative to accelerate the adoption of advanced mechanisation technology.
Addressing high production costs and labour shortages
During the official launch, Australian growers articulated the potential benefits of integrating robots into their farms. Jono Craven, Chief Agriculture Officer at Harvest Moon in Tasmania, emphasised the need for enhanced profitability in the face of Australia’s high production costs and labour shortages.
“Australia has high productions costs. Basic labour for anything that is done in the field by hand would be the equivalent of 26 US dollar per hour”, Craven explained. “And the availability of labour is the other issue. So, we need to mechanise and find different solutions. Herbicide resistance is also a major challenge. We are looking for solutions to reduce pesticides as well.”
Robots slowly but surely eliminate hand weeding
Troy Qualischefski, Director of Qualipac Farms in Queensland, also highlighted labour costs as one of the greatest challenges, exacerbated post-COVID by soaring input costs, of fertilisers for example. “That is the reason we started to look into robotics more seriously”, he said.
Craven said that Harvest Moon has already looked into new weeding technologies, and mechanical harvesting. “Autonomous type solutions have merit for us”, he underlined. Qualischefski explained that his company has invested in a Stout weeding machine out of the U.S. and a FarmDroid robot from Denmark.
“Weeds are very problematic for us up here”, Qualischefski pointed out. “We were hoping to eliminate hand weeding for a part of our business, and we have done that quite successfully with these 2 bits of equipment.”
Both industry leaders stressed the importance of user-friendly equipment and robust customer support from manufacturers. Qualischefski: “I did weigh up who built the machine, how many they had sold and what the back-up service was going to be like.”
Simple and easy to use
“We have had some great experiences, where the companies could log on to the machine, and solve issues real quick. And we learned from having new technology on the farm. It is too early to say anything about the return on investment. We’re currently still collecting the data.”
Robot manufacturers and tech companies that enter the Australian market should consider that farmers are usually ‘time-poor’ and equipment therefore should be simple and easy to use, Qualischefski said. “
“Once a machine hits the ground, you really want it to work. In the past, we have had experience with certain equipment where it took 3 or 4 days to set it up. It was just challenging. Craven added that it is also important that manufacturers understand the differences in production systems, topography and climate of growers.
Craven: “I’ve been looking at Carbon Robotics that works on flat country in the U.S. It has its challenges in our environment, where we have high rainfall, clay soils and slopes. A great piece of technology in its current form may not be quite fit for us.”
Adapting to challenging crops
Qualischefski advises other growers to involve someone with an interest in tech in the introduction of a robot on the farm. “That really can make it easy to get it up and running. It is also ‘unlearning’. This is new equipment, so we sometimes have to forget what our fathers have done. And start with a blank canvas.”
Craven said that Harvest Moon would benefit most from robots in its onion crops. “It is one of our most challenging crops with weeds, the number of applications of pesticides, timing and smaller row spacings. Crops like brassicas and beans are a little easier.” Qualischefski expects that new technology will take certain tasks in vegetable crops a step forward. As an example, he mentioned direct seeding by a FarmDroid robot in a broccoli crop.
The cost of the technology also remains a major consideration, Craven said. “We see massive amounts of difference in the solutions. There is a machine from the states that lands in Australia with a price tag of 2.5 million Australian dollars. It is a use challenge making something like that stack up at the moment.”
Solar-powered robots instead of diesel burning tractors
According to Qualischefski, most growers would want to own a machine outright. “I know we would as a business. One of the challenges in our operation is that we are an irrigator, so we have to content with wet soil. And at the end of the day, you want it to work.”
Qualischefski said that he could picture his company in ten years’ time owning five or ten FarmDroids and contracting all the ‘heavy lifting’, such as the groundwork and the spraying, out. Owning very expensive heavy equipment might be a thing of the past, he thinks. “The next generation of farmers might not be using that many diesel burning tractors. Look at the new technology-driven solutions like solar-powered FarmDroids.”
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