The Victorian Government has only now called for RFPs for agricultural IoT trials that it said would start on 1 July.
The trials are being supported with $12m of funding announced in the 2016/17 budget. Subsequent to that announcement, in March 2018, the Government announced $15 million funding to enhance agricultural technology on farms. In that announcement it said of the farm IoT trial to be supported with the initial $12m funding: “The trial will begin in the regions surrounding Maffra, Birchip, Serpentine and Tatura from 1 July.”
That was clearly not correct. The RFP for the trial, issued on 1 August, says: “The purpose of the IoT trial is to assess the contribution that IoT makes to farm performance within four selected agricultural sectors ‐ dairy grains, sheep, and horticulture (fruits, nuts, berries). The four regions chosen as representative of these sectors are: Maffra – dairy; Birchip – grains; Serpentine – sheep; Tatura – horticulture.”
The RFP says The Department of Economic Development, Jobs, Transport and Resources (DEDJTR) and Agriculture Victoria are seeking to support the trial of agriculture related IoT services to assess the contribution that IoT makes to farm performance within these four sectors.
The Government says trials will investigate issues from the network level through to end‐user devices and machinery on‐farm, and the knowledge gained will drive the Victorian Government’s longer‐term response to the opportunity of digital agriculture.
The government is adopting a two-stage approach with two RFP processes to run concurrently. The RFP issued on 1 August seeks responses on IoT network connectivity solutions. A second RFP will be issued shortly seeking responses on agriculture related IoT applications and devices.
The connectivity RFP covers:
- Network infrastructure that enables affordable IoT connectivity and services;
- Sustainable business models during and beyond the trial period;
- Provision of network services that are supported by service agreements;
- Network co‐contributions.
The second RFP will seek
- Ag‐IoT applications and devices that demonstrate clear benefits to farms;
- Sustainable business models during and beyond the trial period;
- Provision of application and devices that are secure, supported by service agreements and provide access to relevant trial data.
The Government is planning for the trials to run for two years and wants to trial at least one connectivity option in each location.
For IoT applications and devices, it plans to select and make available a range of suitable ‘Ag‐IoT applications and devices’ to support trials in each of the locations. Suppliers chosen will be required to offer their applications and/or devices to farmers at set prices, and DEDJTR will subsidise farmers’ cost of acquiring these.
DEDJTR says responses to the applications and devices RFP may be used to inform the selection of the IoT connectivity solutions.
