Mark Gould will support farmers taking part in the On-Farm IoT Trial.
The beginning of a trial aimed at uncovering the benefits of Internet of Things (IoT) technology on broadacre cropping farms has seen a new face start at Horsham's Grains Innovation Park.
Agriculture Victoria Grain Technology Coordinator Mark Gould was recently appointed to support farmers taking part in Victoria's On-Farm IoT Trial which will soon begin around Birchip, Tatura, Serpentine and Maffra.
Mr Gould said the trial would support grain growers to test IoT technology and it was his job to ensure farmers taking part in the trial had a local point of contact to help them select technologies best matched to the needs of their businesses.
"The trial will allow us to work together to investigate how well IoT technology works in the practical day-to-day running of a farm business," Mr Gould said.
"To ensure a lack of access to a reliable network coverage isn't a barrier to farmers participating in the trial, the Victorian Government is also funding the delivery of IoT network connectivity to each trial region," he said.
"We're now calling for up to 25 broadacre cropping farmers in the Buloke local government area to express their interest to take part in the trial and access up to $30,000 to invest in IoT technology."
Before joining the team at Agriculture Victoria, Mark spent 15 years as an Advisory Systems Engineer with Dell Technologies in Melbourne.
"I moved to the Wimmera about 18 months ago," he said.
"Agriculture is the core industry in this part of Victoria, so I developed an interest in bringing my many years of technology experience to farmers to enable them to be more efficient and profitable.
"I can't wait to see the smile on farmers' faces when they see what they always thought was true is now backed up by data, and they can spend a lot less time touring the farm to make informed decisions."
