AUSTRALIA could be a world leader in autonomous vehicle technology if government puts in appropriate pathways according to grain grower lobby group Grain Producers Australia.
GPA made a submission to the government on its plans to develop a National Robotics strategy.
Chief executive at GPA Colin Bettles said the key was to develop a framework that delivered a clear pathway towards adoption of autonomous farm machinery, which he claimed could deliver vital farm efficiency gains and broader community benefits.
He said the submission highlighted work already underway to introduce a Code of Practice for the use of agricultural machinery in Australia.
Led by expert consultant Rohan Rainbow, the Code of Practice for Agricultural Mobile Field Machinery with Autonomous Functions in Australia is a joint project with GPA, the Tractor and Machinery Association of Australia (TMA) and Society of Precision Agriculture Australia (SPAA).
Dr Rainbow said the value of the Australian robotics industry was rapidly rising, and could rise further with sound policy behind it.
In the initial robotics discussion paper it was found that in 2021, Australian robotics companies were estimated to be worth $18 billion in annual revenue, up from $12 billion in 2018.
Automation, in part enabled by robotics, was forecast in 2019 to add an additional $170 billion to $600 billion to Australia's annual gross domestic product by 2030 given sufficient investment across the private and public sectors the paper said.
However, Dr Rainbow cautioned that the government would have to navigate through a skills shortage to allow the sector to reach its full potential.
GPA research, development and extension spokesperson, and Victorian grain producer, Andrew Weidemann, said the grains industry was closely watching the automation and robotics space to see what efficiency gains could be delivered for grain producers.
"Australia's grains industry is already seeing reports of early movement in the autonomy space, with smaller autonomous machinery such as SwarmFarm that can spot spray weeds in paddocks during summer," he said.
"Other growers will be watching intently, to see how this can translate into dollars and cents on their own farms; especially moving towards scaling up to the future use of bigger driverless machinery at seeding and harvesting.
"GPA recognised this technology's impending arrival - that's why we've worked with TMA and SPAA to get ahead of the game."
Mr Weidemann said GPA's submission to the Strategy showed the market for autonomous farm machinery would reach US$199.8b (AUD$292b) by 2027.
"This increase is forecast to be driven by growing government and private sector investments in intelligent agriculture, as the future of sustainable farming and Australia's initial share of this forecast expected to be significant."
He said the future was arriving quicker than people thought.
"GPA's code, working with TMA and SPAA, is designed to be proactive with preparing for a future that's arriving much sooner than many realise, and ensure the practical implications of this technology, in particular safety, are properly considered by all stakeholders."
TMA executive director, Gary Northover, said the code presents a great opportunity for Australian producers to be pace setters in adopting autonomous machinery, while helping to enable tech-based employment in both the farming and manufacturing sectors.
"TMA supports this project because we can see the obvious benefits looming on the horizon and we know we need to prepare for it," he said.
SPAA president, Phil Honey, said the during the code development process the team had also been engaged with the international OECD Tractor Codes Robotics sub-working group, over the past three years, to seek global understanding of likely future regulation.
"This approach through the Code places Australian farmers, industry and government at the forefront of commercialising this technology, with a clear focus on managing safety outcomes, to meet community standards," he said.
Mr Bettles said GPA was continuing to work with state governments to encourage them to endorse the code, with discussions underway in WA and Queensland.