There was much interest in the Soil CRC’s soiltech inventions at the annual AgriFutures evokeAG conference held in Melbourne last month, with our BILBY® wireless communication node, QUOLL® e-nose, and BANDICOOT® soil probe drawing delegates to our exhibition stand.
Our CEO Dr Michael Crawford said the agtech conference provided an excellent opportunity to showcase the Soil CRC’s latest technology, which aims to make it easier for Australian farmers to measure and manage soil health.
“It was pleasing to see the level of interest in what the Soil CRC is doing and to receive positive feedback about our research achievements,” he said.
Joining Michael at evokeAG were Soil CRC researcher and Agtech Innovator, Simon Edwards (University of Tasmania), our Intellectual Property Manager, Dr Rhona Hammond, and Adoption Manager, Felicity Harrop.
Rhona highlighted the diversity of the attendees, which included farmers from a variety of sectors, entrepreneurs, government representatives and students.
“There were some really great questions about the CRC and the tech we were showcasing. This showed that people understood the problems we are trying to solve,” Rhona said.
With over 1500 delegates, evokeAG is known for facilitating discussions and building connections across the agtech industry and agriculture more broadly. Felicity said she found the conference a valuable opportunity to connect in-person with many attending Soil CRC participants, as well as with others who were not so familiar with soil research.
“The event provided a platform to showcase the wide range of Soil CRC resources, with many attendees actively seeking the latest soil research insights to share across their networks and signing up to receive our newsletter,” she said.
The three soiltech innovations on display were developed with researchers from the University of Tasmania, along with other Soil CRC partners. We are currently looking for investors and development partners for the BANDICOOT® soil probe. Expressions of interest can be made via the growAG website.
After being interviewed by the evokeAG team about the QUOLL® e-nose, Rhona noted that many of the attendees she spoke to also saw the potential for this device.
“The Soil CRC recently assigned the intellectual property of the QUOLL® e-nose project to the University of Tasmania so that they can continue its development and make it available to Australian farmers and the agriculture industry,” Rhona said.
Find out more
- Related article: The future looks bright for the QUOLL® electronic nose
- Flyer: The QUOLL® electronic nose: Sniffing out soil biological activity
- Flyer: The BANDICOOT® soil probe: Real-time soil profiling for smarter decisions
- Flyer: The BILBY® wireless communication node: Below-ground node for soil sensor data transmission
Main image: The Soil CRC evokeAG team (from left to right), CEO Dr Michael Crawford with the QUOLL® e-nose, Intellectual Property Manager Dr Rhona Hammond with the BILBY® wireless communication node, Adoption Manager Felicity Harrop and UTAS Agtech Innovator Simon Edwards.