John Deere lends expertise to data sharing project

John Deere Australia and New Zealand and the Food Agility Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) are working together with industry groups on a nationwide data management initiative that aims to provide a framework for farmers, agronomists and industry specialists to manage their data safely and efficiently.    

A Food Agility Data Sharing Agreement Template has been developed in conjunction with the National Farmers’ Federation (NFF) and law firm Minter Ellison. It establishes key considerations between farmers and service providers including data transfer, storage, disposal and access, and provides clarity on the roles, responsibilities, deidentification and control of data.

In the next phase of the project, John Deere and Food Agility CRC will apply the template to data flow scenarios in order to improve the template before it is released more widely to industry later in the year.

John Deere Australia and New Zealand Precision Agriculture Manager, Benji Blevin, said John Deere was pleased to contribute its industry expertise to this project.

“AgTech has the transformational ability to drive productivity, performance and sustainability across the ag sector, and while it continues to develop at an increasingly rapid rate, it is vital to ensure Australian producers feel confident they have control and transparency when managing their farm data,” he said.

“As a technology innovator, we are continuously reviewing and improving our own robust data policies and practices and we are delighted to work with Food Agility CRC on this project to empower Australian producers to collect and share their data with confidence and control.”

Food Agility CRC General Manager of Strategic Investments, Dr. Mick Schaefer, said the Data Sharing Agreement Template was also being piloted in other research projects, including its $6.5m collaboration with AACo, and would ultimately benefit the broader agricultural industry.

“We are stress testing the Data Sharing Agreement Template to ensure it meets the needs of farmers and service providers in a range of circumstances. We aim to release it for wider industry use later in the year to help drive best practice across the sector,” he said.

Ensuring farmers have control of their data and the value attributed to it is one of the goals in the NFF’s plan for agriculture to be a $100 billion industry by 2030.

NFF Chief Executive, Tony Mahar, said the Template Data Sharing Agreement was a practical application of the NFF’s Farm Data Code, which aimed to give farmers clarity and transparency in how their data is managed.

“Every year digital tools and services are playing a bigger role on-farm. Farmers need to have confidence that the data they share is being protected,” he said.

“It’s great to see Food Agility CRC applying the principles of our Farm Data Code to develop a template that will be available for broader industry.”

The project started in February and is expected to take approximately four months to complete.

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