Swiss farm to become demo for smart-farming technologies
An 81 hectares farm operation in the canton of Thurgau (Switzerland) on the so-called Tänikon site in Ettenhausen is to be a demonstration farm for smart-farming technologies.
According to Agroscope, the Swiss governmental centre of excellence for agricultural research that operates the farm, it’s the only one of its kind in Europe.
The Swiss Future Farm (SFF) is owned by the Swiss government and consists of 55 hectares of arable land and 20 hectares of grassland. Agroscope, together with its partners AGCO and AGCO’s distribution partner GVS Agrar AG will:
- Develop parameters relevant for decision-making as well as decision-support systems
- Study the influence of new technologies in terms of economic, environmental and work-economics impacts determining the adoption and dissemination of technologies
- Refine technologies for use in practice, especially for the Swiss agricultural sector
- Offer a knowledge and science hub on digitisation in Swiss agriculture
GVS Agrar owns and operates the machine fleet on the farm and will utilise the SFF for machine training courses and demonstration of AGCO brands and technologies. AGCO is providing access to its latest technology to demonstrate the use and benefits of specific applications in precision farming.
The manufacturer says that with the Swiss Future Farm, it is expanding the Future Farm concept out of Africa, creating the first AGCO “Fully Fused” Future Farm in Europe. The project kicked off in September 2017. In Q4 2018, the SFF plans to open a modern farm operation centre, a state of the art technology training facility and digital farming experience area.
