Yan Lai 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 dairy farms has seen a new face start at Agriculture Victoria's Ellinbank Office.
Dairy Technology Coordinator Yan Lai was recently appointed to support farmers taking part in Victoria's On-Farm IoT Trial which will soon begin around Tatura, Serpentine, Birchip and Maffra.
Mr Lai said the trial would support dairy farmers around Maffra 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 issues and find out how well IoT technology works in the practical day-to-day running of a dairy farm business," Mr Lai 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 dairy farmers in the Maffra region 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, Yan worked as an Applied Science Advisor with the Environmental Protection Authority, a Quality Assurance/Project Manager at Mainstream Aquaculture and a Digital Sales Specialist at Telstra.
"After working several years on a fish farm that produced barramundi, I became interested in learning about where our food comes from and exploring how we can produce food more sustainably.
Although farming fish is not a 'typical' agricultural activity, the fundamental concepts of producing high quality food profitably and sustainably are shared," Mr Lai said.
"This is an exciting space to be working in, as I believe technology and connected devices will play a large part in farming into the future."
