GIA Smart Farming Project Officer appointed
Greenlife Industry Australia is pleased to welcome David Hunt as the Smart Farming Project Officer for the ‘Digital remote monitoring to improve horticultures environmental performance project’.
Based in Brisbane, David’s role is to assist research partners in building an innovative smart monitoring framework to drive improvements in land use, soil, energy and water resources to reduce any impacts on the Great Barrier Reef catchment by production nurseries. This research will lead to knowledge supporting digital monitoring sensors for businesses across Australia.
David has 10 years of working as a scientist for the Queensland Government and a further 9 years as an independent consultant, which adds to his considerable technical knowledge earned from 10 years working in the electronics industry prior to returning to study. He has considerable experience conducting projects throughout Australia for various horticultural industries in areas of field evaluation and testing of irrigation technologies, waste stream and water recycling management and energy efficiency in protected cropping.
“I’m excited to join the Greenlife Industry Australia Smart Farming Partnerships project and look forward to applying my knowledge and experience to assist growers in developing efficient plant production practices that will not only benefit the individual nursery businesses but will help the industry to move into a more environmentally sustainable future that fosters industry innovation and technology adoption,” David said.
Several previous projects David has been involved in as a researcher and project manager include
- The Qld Department of Natural Resources, Mines and Energy’s, Energy Savers Plus Program Extension.
- Increasing energy efficiency and assessing an alternate energy option for Australian protected cropping.
- Determining plant water requirements via weight-based technologies.
- An investigation into waste management in Australian production nurseries.
- Increasing adoption of innovative irrigation and water recycling technologies in Australian production nurseries.
- Freshwater Ecosystem Health Monitoring Program – Healthy Waterways
As the Smart Farming Project Officer, he would like to use his experience to encourage more growers to utilise and adopt a holistic approach to plant production and embrace the principles of the nursery industry’s EcoHort program. The application of digital technologies for monitoring of water quality, irrigation and plant pests is an excellent addition to production processes highlighting the industries commitment to continuous improvement in plant and environmental health.
As the Smart Farming Project Officer, David will take on the following roles and responsibilities:
- Provide input to research partners and identify criteria suitable for digital sensors and monitoring.
- Contribute to the development of an environmental sustainability framework for horticulture that aligns with the broader Horticulture Sustainability Framework that is suitable for digital sensors and monitoring.
- Provide input for mapping existing environmental management systems against the environmental sustainability framework to identify gaps.
- Participate in workshops as required to ensure linkages across existing extension and communication channels.
- Use the data collected to inform on-farm improvements, measure improvements in environmental performance, implement digitised recording systems and communicate this to industry.
If you are a production nursery who are interested in new smart farming technologies, and would like to get in touch with David, he can be contacted at: david.hunt@greenlifeindustry.com.au or by mobile on 0408 637 644.
David’s role has been funded through the Research Agreement (RA) between Hort Innovation and Greenlife Industry Australia.
