In May, some city slickers from the AgriDigital Development and Product teams headed west to Manildra, NSW, for a hands-on agricultural experience and a site visit to AgriDigital customer, MSM Milling.
Day 1
The team departed Sydney early, with packed lunches and podcast playlists at the ready for the long drive ahead. Upon arriving at MSM Milling (MSM), they embarked on a guided tour of the processing site including the oilseed crushing, refining and packaging facilities. MSM exports to over 15 countries around the world and has dedicated container packing facilities and rail access on site, taking export containers direct to the port.
With MSM using AgriDigital to manage their transactions and operations throughout the supply chain, it was an excellent opportunity for the team to witness the platform they helped develop in action.
“It’s exciting to see the work our developers have put into building the platform making a real impact on our customers’ processes and operations,” Meryl Gibbs, AgriDigital Business Analyst commented during the tour.
After the processing facilities, the next stop on tour was the weighbridge — the mechanism used to weigh commodities as they arrive on site via truck. The weighbridge facility is an essential component of the AgriDigital platform, calculating exactly how much product is delivered by a particular farmer (which impacts invoicing and payments), as well as assisting MSM in managing their inventory levels and stock on hand. The team relished the opportunity to see the weighbridge in action and chatted excitedly about potential new ways to streamline the process of uploading weighbridge data to the platform.
After a busy day, the team enjoyed some local country hospitality at the pub for dinner.
Day 2
Next morning, the team visited a local mixed cropping farm to witness a ‘tech tractor’ in action. Local farmer Brendan Shoard demonstrated to the group how he uses GPS tracking to sow his wheat and canola crops each season. Once the route is set, the tractor begins its self-steering sowing journey, using an air seeder to plant each row, while Brendan oversees the process from the tractor cab. The result? Rows and rows of freshly sown seeds, completed in a fraction of the time it would typically take Brendan to finish the job manually. “The tracking program also store route history and gives great stats on yield — which helps us plan for future crops accordingly,” adds Brendan. Precision agriculture in action!
Ben Reid, one of the founders of AgriDigital and a farmer in the local area, then led the team on a practical Agriculture 101 experience — going over the basics of crop rotation, weed control, feed, and livestock management. For the team, many of whom are city born and bred, this was a fantastic learning experience, giving them a greater understanding of the industry they are working in, as well as a taste of day to day life for our customers.
“I’ve been a developer at AgriDigital for just over a year, and while I don’t have an ag background, I’ve always had an interest in the industry. This tour has taught me so much about the intricacies and finer details of agri-supply chains and also the work that goes on behind the scenes to get a product from farmer to consumer — great insight to take back to the office.” Leith McKendry, AgriDigital Developer.
