In 2025, technology is no longer a novelty in farming — it’s an essential input alongside seed, fertiliser, chemical and good advice. Across Southern Australia, growers and Agronomists are finding that the right tech tools are making it easier to make confident, timely decisions — even in seasons where every pass and dollar counts.
Satellite Imagery & NDVI Mapping
Now, with the ability to provide near real-time views of crop biomass and vigour across the whole farm, these images highlight differences in plant growth and possibly health, early on, often before you can see them from the ute window. It means stress from pests, nutrient deficiency, soil issues or waterlogging can be pinpointed and addressed before yield is lost. Projects are currently underway using satellites to detect weeds and provide prescriptions to the farmer or Agronomist.
Cloud cover is still a challenge with satellite images, but it is worth persisting. Growers and Agronomists can engage companies to provide the images for them, or they can simply log into a provider like Data Farming and do it themselves. The costs of these services are as low as they have ever been.
Drones
Drones have now moved well beyond taking nice aerial photos or scaring your mates down the road. Multispectral cameras mounted on drones can detect crop stress or early disease infections days before visible symptoms appear, allowing for targeted in-season action. Weed mapping is another area where drones are starting to excel. The green on Brown (fallow) mapping is here now and gaining popularity. Green on Green (weeds in crop) is coming but needs more work. Drones have an advantage over satellites in cloudy conditions; they can fly under the clouds; however, satellites have a price advantage.
Autonomous Machines & Robotics
Autonomous tractors, robotic sprayers, drone-based livestock mustering, and automated vertical farms are advancing from trial phases to commercial use. These technologies are now being implemented on farms today. These technologies are being developed and adopted to tackle some of farming’s biggest challenges — labour shortages, rising costs, and environmental pressures.
On-farm Weather Stations & IoT Sensors
Their ability to give on-farm, local data that’s far more relevant than distant BOM sites. Soil moisture probes, canopy temperature sensors, and portable weather stations are helping growers fine-tune irrigation, nail spray windows, more accurately forecast yields and allow targeted assessments of frost events.
The biggest leap forward in 2025 is integration. Pulling data into a system, adding your insights and producing an outcome. This means a yellow patch on a satellite map can quickly turn into an action plan. Agworld can now pull in data from a weather station (integration with Origo.ag) and add it to an observation or activity.
The Crop Smart App
This is great technology to help farmers with their input management. Order and manage orders online and keep up to date with the latest offers. All aimed to save you time and money.
In Summary
A word of advice about technology. Technology can be a useful tool but only in the hands of those who understand it and can use it to drive efficiency or improved outcomes. Data combined with insights will lead to positive actions and outcomes.
Don’t get caught up in the tech race. Focus on and calculate the value (time or money) it can offer you. As a farmer, you do not have to be an expert in all of this, but you will need to have a good relationship with someone who does.