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21 March 2022 Graincast™: monitoring crop production across the Australian grainbelt
R. Lawes, Z. Hochman, E. Jakku, R. Butler, J. Chai, Y. Chen, F. Waldner, G. Mata, R. Donohue
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Abstract

The Australian dryland grain-cropping landscape occupies 60 Mha. The broader agricultural sector (farmers and agronomic advisors, grain handlers, commodity forecasters, input suppliers, insurance providers) required information at many spatial and temporal scales. Temporal scales included hindcasts, nowcasts and forecasts, at spatial scales ranging from sub-field to the continent. International crop-monitoring systems could not service the need of local industry for digital information on crop production estimates. Therefore, we combined a broad suite of satellite-based crop-mapping, crop-modelling and data-delivery techniques to create an integrated analytics system (Graincast™) that covers the Australian cropping landscape. In parallel with technical developments, a set of user requirements was identified through a human-centred design process, resulting in an end-product that delivered a viable crop-monitoring service to industry. This integrated analytics solution can now produce crop information at scale and on demand and can deliver the output via an application programming interface. The technology was designed to underpin digital agriculture developments for Australia. End-users are now using crop-monitoring data for operational purposes, and we argue that a vertically integrated data supply chain is required to develop crop-monitoring technology further.

R. Lawes, Z. Hochman, E. Jakku, R. Butler, J. Chai, Y. Chen, F. Waldner, G. Mata, and R. Donohue "Graincast™: monitoring crop production across the Australian grainbelt," Crop and Pasture Science 74(6), 509-523, (21 March 2022). https://doi.org/10.1071/CP21386
Received: 4 June 2021; Accepted: 26 October 2021; Published: 21 March 2022
KEYWORDS
application programming interface
big data analytics
crop modelling
integrated land management
land use mapping
participatory research
remote sensing
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