Precision agriculture solutions provider, FarmscanAg, has made the finals of the Premier of Queensland’s Export Awards for the second time.
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The awards, which feed into the national program, celebrate business excellence in international trade.
The Australian company won the Environmental Solutions Award in the 2015 State awards, and is one of four finalists in this year’s Agribusiness section.
FarmscanAg, marking its 40th anniversary this year, provides GPS guidance; auto-steering; spraying, planting, spreading control and monitoring systems.
The business is developing markets in South America, North America, Europe, China and New Zealand and opened a UK office in Cambridge earlier this year to support the UK and Europe.
FarmscanAg business manager John Chalmers said while the government promoted international trade and many companies aspired to developing export markets, it was not always achievable.
The awards were good recognition for the time and effort devoted to developing export markets, he said.
“For us, it has been beneficial because the agricultural market is seasonal and by going into a different hemisphere, we have opened up different seasons for our business,’’ Mr Chalmers said.
“There are also some negatives however, because we are now almost a 24-hour business, supporting different customers around the globe.”
He said the award programs had created good networking opportunities and business contacts.
“We have experienced a significant peak in interest after the award programs,” he said.
Interest from China was ongoing and sales activity to Argentina and Brazil was increasing, mainly for the company’s AgGuide guidance and auto-steering for large, self-propelled sprayers, Mr Chalmers said.
The systems needed to be adapted with Portuguese language and other requirements for user interface.
He said strengthening activity in the UK had resulted since opening an office in January.
The company also attends various trade events around the globe, including EIMA International, to be held at Bologna, Italy, next month.
The Australian Export Awards program, now in its 54th year, is presented by the Australian Trade and Investment Commission (Austrade), the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), and CPA Australia.
