[1] I am working in the field of new on-farm technology to support the sustainable productivity and profitability of the sheep industry in Western Australia. This is part of the Department of Agriculture and Food’s $10 million Sheep Industry Business Innovation project made possible by Royalties for Regions.
Labour has been identified as a key constraint in expanding the sheep flock in WA. My role will be to support growers in investing in new technology. We will aim to demonstrate ‘state of the art’ labour saving and flock management technologies to increase efficiency, traceability and better breeding within a sheep enterprise.
I have worked for DAFWA based out of the Katanning office for the past 14 years. For 8 years I worked on industry funded projects to increase the profitability of salt–affected farming land through shrub and grass/legume based pasture systems. A key legacy of this work was that growers were able to develop the confidence to go on and further improve production from saltland after the life of the project.
When this project finished I worked on another industry funded project for 2 years which sought to increase the adoption of precision agriculture in the cropping enterprises of Great Southern farmers. Prior to commencing my current 'new-technology' role I worked as an activity leader for regional intelligence in the Southern Agricultural Region. This involved working with grower groups as a relationship manager and coordination of the Southern AgTactics e-newsletter.
Links
[1] https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/sites/gateway/files/styles/gw_large/public/JPCollins%20head%20shot.jpg?itok=TTgPCEOT
[2] https://www.agric.wa.gov.au/john-paul-collins