The global shortage of semiconductor chips is causing challenges for farmers wanting to embrace Agri-Tech, reports ABC News.
The chip shortage comes at a difficult time, as many farmers need labour-saving technology to combat worker shortages and improve productivity.
Agri-Tech entrepreneur, Tom Mills, who develops remote monitoring systems, has had to re-design his products. “For the custom-made components, what we need to do now is essentially look forward at what chips are available, pre-purchase those chips, and then design our equipment or refine our designs around that,” he told ABC Australia.
Mills said that Australia has “fallen behind” because we’ve not invested in this technology to date. “That’s why a lot of the automation technology you find in dairies is sourced from European countries because they’ve had to pay staff a lot more over there for some time.”
James Walsh, director of remote farming technology company Farm Pulse, said his company had avoided the worst effects of shortages by not being reliant on a single technology or manufacturer.
But they still had to “manage expectations”.
“Anyone who’s in technology and trying to source raw materials has had problems,” he said.
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