The world of technology has exploded into a new era with the invention of smart phones, tablets and compact laptop computers.
If you are a person who still has a phone that just makes phone calls, you are now part of a minority group being overwhelmed by a population who has the world at their fingertips through smart technology.
Some people feel this new technology is simply a waste of time, but with it comes opportunities for farmers to have access to endless information on everything to do with their farming business, access to all aspects of communication including emails and social media, and even entertainment to keep you amused whilst sitting on self-steer tractors.
Many farmers simply use this technology to have access to current weather conditions and forecasts, which is invaluable for spraying and forecasting farming operations, but increasingly people are seeing the value of things called applications or ‘apps’ and electronic books or ‘ibooks’ specifically designed for the farming audience.
Some examples of apps designed for farmers include the crop variety chooser from NSW DPI, which is free and gives you immediate access to all of the information available for wheat, barley, oats, triticale, canola and chickpea varieties.
Another example is the newly released free app from GRDC called ‘Weeds, the Ute Guide’ which is designed to be used in the paddock by farmers to identify common weeds in southern Australia.
Other useful ‘apps’ can include rainfall charts, crop development tools, rulers, thermometers, conversion charts, spirit levels, maps, and the list goes on.
Apple has over 500,000 apps available for download, many are free, but the majority costing less than $2.
Another useful tool are ibooks, which are predominantly designed for larger touch screen devices such as ipads.
Ipads also have access to over 140,000 apps, but can also host ibooks which may virtually eliminate all of those cropping guides floating on the dash of your ute. Ibooks such as the Winter Crop Variety Sowing Guide, Weed Control in Winter Crops, and Cotton Pest Management guide are some examples of free books that can be stored in the memory of an ipad, and used at your fingertips anywhere anytime.
These devices can also have access to the internet, allowing a much larger and practical tool than a smart phone for browsing the web and checking emails.
Alternatively, they may just be used like a computer with no monthly internet access fees, but can wirelessly connect to any internet when you are within range of an accessible wireless router outlet.
So don’t bury your head in the sand, evaluate this technology and its potential for your farming business, and like many others you may just begin using it to check the weather, but in time the world of technology will be at your side everywhere you go.
Information of locally relevant uses for this technology will be part of the winter cropping pre season updates organised by NSW DPI and local agribusiness.
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