How ready is your grain business for autonomous machines?

The pathway to autonomous farming consists of five steps evolving from autosteer, through precision agriculture (PA), to having your data, connectivity and team ready for autonomous farming.

If you are a farm owner, manager or employee growing grain in Australia, use this self-evaluation to access your automation readiness report and resources link.

This tool is part of Grain Automate, a Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC) initiative on behalf of Australian grain growers. Grain Automate is designed to help accelerate the adoption of machine automation, autonomy and digital technologies in the Australian grains industry.

Grab a quiet spot and a beverage - this will take you about 20 minutes to reach your score and report.
Thank you Emma Leonard, AgriKnowHow and SPAA
By starting this evaluation you are agreeing to our data sharing policy found in FAQs.

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* 1. What is your role in your grain or mixed farming business?

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* 2. If you would like to receive the link to the Grain Automate Hub, when it is launched and to stay informed about Grain Automate activities in your region, please provide your name, email and mobile contacts

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* 3. What accuracy of GPS do you mainly use for autosteer? (select 1)

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* 4. Rate the following farming processes based on your priority for its automation? Rate each process - high, medium or low.

  High Medium Low
The agronomic decisions around crop and variety choice
Soil amelioration
Fallow/summer/pre-sowing weed control
Sowing/planting
In crop weed control
Nutrient application
In crop pest control
In crop disease control
Yield forecasting
Canopy management/pre-harvest crop preparation
Harvesting
Grain cart/chaser bin
Grain storage
Compliance recording
Benchmarking production and financial

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* 5. Do you use or are you familiar with NTRIP as a way to improve positioning accuracy?

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* 6. Have you digitally mapped your external paddock boundaries?

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* 7. Have you digitally mapped your internal paddock boundaries?

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* 8. Have you digitally mapped your roads, sheds and infrastructure?

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* 9. Are your paddock boundaries stored in a format that can be uploaded to different software packages? Eg with the file extension .SHP or .KML or similar.

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* 10. How were MOST of your boundaries mapped?

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* 11. Have you considered using a pathway planning software to improve paddock operations and logistics?

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* 12. At what scale are MOST of your summer/fallow herbicides applied?

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* 13. At what scale are MOST of your pre-emergent herbicides applied?

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* 14. At what scale are MOST of your in-crop herbicide applied?

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* 15. Do you plan to convert to variable rate weed control with herbicides or non- herbicide methods?

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* 16. Approximately, how many hectares of winter grains have you or will you sow in 2025? Use the slider or enter a number in the box.

0 hectares 10000 hectares >20000 hectares
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i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

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* 17. Approximately, how many hectares of summer grains will you grow in 2025/26? Use the slider or enter a number in the box.

0 hectares 10000 hectares >20000 hectares
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i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

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* 18. Do you have the equipment to collect any of the following spatial data layers? (multiple answers)

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* 19. Have you accessed any of the following spatial datasets for your paddocks? (multiple answers)

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* 20. Which machinery management software do you use?

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* 21. How does your business use machine telemetry?

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* 22. Which spatial data management software do you use?

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* 23. Do you have a Master file of paddock details (to standardise names, spelling etc) that are transferred to machine screens?

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* 24. Who created the Master file for you?

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* 25. How do you MAINLY record and store your production data?

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* 26. Rate the reliability and coverage of mobile reception for calls across the area in which you work.

0 zero coverage 5 moderate reliability 10 Full and reliable coverage
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i We adjusted the number you entered based on the slider’s scale.

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* 27. Is the mobile reception adequate for automation?

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* 28. Are you interested in technology to improve your mobile data signal across your farm?

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* 29. Do you use spatial data for any of the following?

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* 30. Do you plan to start or to continue using spatial data for any of the following in the next two years?

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* 31. Our business has ..... (multiple selection possible)

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* 32. Do you use or plan to use a drone to apply inputs or gather spatial data?

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* 33. Do you use or plan to use a robot in your business?

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* 34. Before this evaluation, were you aware of the Code of Practice for Agricultural Mobile Field Machinery with Autonomous Functions in Australia?

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* 35. Do you use AI (artificial intelligence) to automate processes, such as collating data to complete compliance forms?

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* 36. Do you check if the digital equipment or services are certified against the National Farmers Federation Farm Data Code?

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* 37. What level of help do you need to implement more advanced PA or greater autonomy?

  Very low Low Medium High Very high Not relevant
Accurately mapping boundaries in transferable formats
Creating master files to load data to machinery screens
Identifying software and hardware compatibility
Creating a software and hardware audit and use policy
Achieving reliable connectivity for mobile data transfer and communication across your operating area
Data management and data security procedures

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* 38. What is your annual turnover?

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* 39. In which GRDC region(s) do you farm or provide services?

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* 40. Thank you for completing the evaluation. We hope you have found it helpful. Click on the button below to access your score and report. Print your report as you would print a web page, or download & save it to your device.

What does a red cross in my answer report mean?
To provide you with a readiness score, each answers has a score value. A red cross does not indicate an incorrect answer but one with a zero score. There is nothing wrong with your answer, but it indicates a specific aspect that needs attention if you are to be prepared for autonomy. If you would like a more detailed report please provide your name and email address and we will be in contact.

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