In 1984, after one of the worst droughts on record, our pastures were depleted and livestock numbers had to be cut back. To make up for it, we ramped up cropping. With a John Deere 8630 and a 32’ Connor Shea air seeder, plus a mate’s Case 4890 tractor, we managed to sow around 5,000 acres. A Jetstream Grouper kept both rigs running nearly 18 hours a day until the job was done.
Having the right gear made it possible, but teamwork and timing made it successful. Living on the edge of the Catombal Range also helped, as weather systems often gave us just enough extra rain to get ahead of the neighbours.
Today, Australian agriculture faces a different challenge: margin squeeze. Input costs have doubled in the past decade, land prices have tripled in 20 years, and droughts (and floods) remain a constant threat. Farmers now need a new kind of collaboration that extends beyond neighbours and contractors to include agronomists, advisers, and digital tools.
A farmer’s plan at the start of the year rarely matches the reality at harvest. Soil conditions, pests, market shifts, and weather constantly force adjustments. This is where agronomists are vital. They bring technical knowledge, local experience, and objectivity to help farmers adapt plans while keeping profitability in focus. To do their job well, they need data.
We are now entering ‘Agriculture 4.0’, the era of Internet of Things (IoT) sensors, big data, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics.
Soon, agronomists will have digital co-pilots—AI-driven tools they can train as ‘virtual junior agronomists’—to analyse paddock-level data, test scenarios, and flag risks and opportunities.
Models like ChatGPT are already close, but without farm-specific data, the answers can be too general or inaccurate. That’s why trusted advisers will remain essential; to validate, refine, and challenge what AI suggests.
It is unlikely many farmers will implement digital co-pilots on their own, since training and testing AI falls outside their skills set or daily focus. Instead, agronomists will act as the bridge; training these systems to suit local conditions and production systems, then using them as decision-support tools rather than unquestioned authorities.
For this to work, agronomists need data about as many aspects of the operation as possible; from production systems and liquidity to risk profiles and weather observations. While agtech hardware and apps already collect much of this information, it’s not all in a common ‘digital language’, so can’t be easily used across platforms.
Overcoming this data fragmentation is one of the key reasons I founded Pairtree.
I reckon the future of agriculture, and the development of even smarter farm technologies, lies in creating a seamless flow of data, not just between farmers and their trusted advisors, but between all of the digital tools at their disposal.
Teamwork always got us through the hard times in the past. In the decades ahead, collaboration between agtech device and service suppliers, working together for the benefit of their clients, and farmers working closely with agronomists using the new digital tools will be critical to ensure the next 200 more seasons.
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