Page 11 - National Poultry Newspaper

Manning Valley Eggs owner Peter Matuszny believes the farm sustainability dashboard will be an extremely useful tool.
Australian Eggs launches world leading agritech tools
AUSTRALIAN Eggs has launched two key agricultural technology initiatives – a farm sus- tainability dashboard and biosecurity virtual reality tool – to help egg farmers continue improving on-farm and business practices, fol- lowing the release of its third sustainability framework report.
changers for Australian egg farmers.
tical feedback and directs egg farmers on how they can achieve their sustain- able goals, whether they are well advanced in pur- suing sustainable practic- es or just starting out,” Mr McMonnies said.
impacts, energy and water use, on-farm practices, and even business man- agement and market con- siderations.
will be an extremely use- ful tool.
has been trialled by egg farmers, allows users to walk through a virtual farm to identify risks and assess the effectiveness of their current biosecu- rity measures, including where and how improve- ments can be made on their own farm.
The Australian Eggs sustainability framework report examines the re- lationship between the Australian community and the egg industry, us- ing insights from annual CSIRO community re- search to identify oppor- tunities for the industry to progress in important areas, including the en-
In direct response to key issues raised by the community and indus- try as part of the sus- tainability framework process, Australian Eggs has developed the farm sustainability dashboard and biosecurity VR tool, with both set to be game
Australian Eggs manag- ing director Rowan Mc- Monnies said, “Industry commitment to sustaina- bility is broad, with many egg farming businesses already exploring oppor- tunities for improvement.”
The dashboard offers a range of sustainability learning modules, includ- ing environmental man- agement, production ef- ficiency, supply chain
Manning Valley Eggs owner Peter Matuszny, with five free range farm properties that are all es- tablished on sustainable farming practices, be- lieves that the dashboard
Australian Eggs has also developed an agri- cultural industry leading biosecurity virtual reality tool, designed to facilitate improvements in biosecu- rity on farm by harness- ing technology to enhance understanding of biosecu- rity risks and improve on- farm practices.
“Our new biosecurity VR tool allows new and existing staff to be trained in a close to real-life envi- ronment, driving efficien-
vironment, food security and safety, hen welfare, human nutrition, and eco- nomic viability.
“We developed the dashboard as an online tool to broaden and ac- celerate industry adoption and enable farming busi- nesses that are otherwise separated and isolated to access knowledge and feedback specific to their operations and require- ments.”
The final output also includes a farm self-as- sessment score, with egg producers encouraged to interact with the dash- board annually to bench- mark themselves.
“The sustainability dashboard provides a ref- erence point to help make assessments of progress and focus on emerging is- sues.”
“Training farm workers with booklets can be very dry and does not reflect the progressive farming practices and technologi- cal advancement of Aus- tralia’s egg farming in- dustry,” Mr McMonnies said.
Recognising that indus- try improvement typically occurs on-farm, the farm sustainability dashboard identifies opportunities for egg farmers to im- prove sustainable prac- tices across all aspects of their business, helping them to safeguard against future market and indus- try changes and align with community expectations.
Each module was devel- oped with industry experts and once completed, the farmer receives guidance on areas for improvement in their business.
“Sustainability is part of farming and we focus on these issues every day,” Mr Matuszny said.
“The farm sustainability dashboard provides prac-
The tool, which was de- veloped in Australia and
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National Poultry Newspaper, April 2021 – Page 11